The Union
by notmariah7
Summary: When Alexander is thrown into a top-secret army called the Union, he surprises himself by agreeing to help them win a war against those trying to overthrow the government. A modern spy-like action story involving a helpful mad scientist, Lafayette using they/them pronouns for a reason you wouldn't expect, and Alex not wanting any of it (except for Laurens if possible).
1. Prologue: A Rescue Mission

"I'm in," Mulligan muttered into his earpiece as he hid in a corner that was darker than the rest of the halls. "Now I just have to find him. Where do I go, A?" Mulligan heard a girl sigh deeply in his ear. "What?"

"First of all, I know that you're in. I got you in."

"Why don't you ever let me say that?" Mulligan grumbled at A's usual sass.

"I let you say that the first time you went on a mission, which was two and a half years ago." Mulligan opened his mouth to talk again, but was cut off when A said, "Second of all, stop narrating what you do. It's weird." Mulligan rolled his eyes.

"A. Just-"

"Go straight forward from where you're standing, then turn right at the first intersection." Mulligan nodded, relieved to finally get useful information. He leaned forward and glanced around, then quickly and quietly snuck down the hall. He came up to where the hallways crossed and stopped. "There's a Third to the right," A said. "Just one. Put him down."

"Got it," Mulligan smirked and hurried around the corner. He came face to face with a man with a large gun in his arms. Before the man could attack, Mulligan yanked the weapon away from him. He slammed the butt of the gun against the other person's head, causing them to crumple to the ground, unconscious. "Where to, A?" Mulligan asked, dropping the gun.

"You have way too much fun with that," A mumbled. "Okay, um, just keep going." Mulligan trekked on without another road block in his path.

"Hey, A? Do you think it's a problem that I've only come across one Third?" Mulligan wondered aloud as he walked down the long, and astonishingly empty, hallway.

"Dumplings, this is a rescue mission," A mentioned. "I don't care about how many Thirds there are. The easier it is for you to get in and out, the better."

"I guess," Mulligan shrugged. "But doesn't it seem-"

"Stop." Mulligan froze when A told him to. "Directly to your left, there's a cell. It's far enough from the other cells to make it suspicious. He's got to be in there." Mulligan looked around, then turned to face the metal door.

"You're right," Mulligan said after seeing no other cells around, "this is suspicious. Just like the fact that there is _literally nobody guarding the_ -"

"Just get him out." Mulligan groaned and nodded compliantly, reaching into his pocket. He pulled out a small, metal, spider-like device and pressed the top of it, where the letters _P.S._ were engraved. The device blinked yellow and beeped, seeming happy to be alive.

"Alright, little buddy," Mulligan whispered to the robotic bug, "do your thing." He lifted his hand to a screen next to the cell, and watched the bug crawl onto it. Its spindly, silver legs took hold of and pulled on the side of the screen until it parted from the wall. The bug ran under the screen, into the mass of wires behind it. Mulligan waited a minute, then heard a click as the door slid open. He was about to go inside the cell when he heard rapid beeping next to him. He turned around and saw the bug flailing two of its legs as if in panic. Mulligan rolled his eyes and grinned. "I should tell P to stop giving you emotions," he said, lifting the bug, turning it off, and putting it back in his pocket. "It's getting annoying."

Mulligan walked into the cell, and pressed a button on the front of his suit, which switched on a light on his chest.

"Holy..." Mulligan whispered when he saw the prisoner inside. "You seeing this, A?"

"Uh-huh..." The prisoner they were staring at (A through a tiny camera on Mulligan's head) was the person that Mulligan had been sent to rescue. They had expected him to be tortured for information, but not this much in such a short amount of time. The young man in the cell was unconscious, laying in the corner. His legs and right arm were clearly broken, and dried blood trailed down the back of his head and from his mouth. His breathing was shallow and slow, barely strong enough to blow some stray curly hairs away from his face.

"Alright, let's get him out of here," Mulligan huffed, taking a step forward. "What's his name?"

"How did you forget-whatever. Name's Lafayette." Mulligan tested the name on his lips while pulling a flask of water out of his bag. He opened the flask and splashed its contents on the other man's face. Lafayette gasped and sputtered and opened his eyes, blinking water out of them. When he focused, he looked Mulligan up and down with a sneer.

"You are new," Lafayette stated, his voice ragged and laced with a French accent. "I usually get big-hair guy."

"Well, you're lucky I'm here instead, because I'm going to break you out of here." Lafayette was shocked by the reply, until Mulligan showed the silver star sewn on the inside of his collar. "I'm part of the Union; my name is Mulligan." Lafayette smiled faintly and tried to sit up, then winced in pain. "Don't worry, we have plenty of awesome doctors at HQ that can fix you up."

"I do not doubt it." Mulligan bent down and reached out to Lafayette.

"Dumplings, you were right." A's voice suddenly rang out in Mulligan's ear, full of panic. "The Thirds found you out; they're coming towards you. A ton of them. I'm sending in squadron Black for backup. Just keep the two of you alive as long as possible."

"Shit..."Mulligan muttered, standing back up. He pulled two guns out of the holsters at his hips, and held one out to Lafayette. "Can you still shoot?"

"I can try." Lafayette took hold of the weapon hesitantly. "What is going on?"

Mulligan answered while taking out and turning on five robotic bugs, setting them on the floor. "We're about to be attacked. We'll have to defend ourselves as much as we can until my squadron gets here." Footsteps sounded from down the hall, getting closer every second.

"What are the robots for?" Lafayette asked, watching the bugs scatter across the room.

"They're our way out."

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh, yes, what _are_ you talking about? I'd just _love_ to know." Mulligan and Lafayette turned to the door to see a small crowd of people looking back at them. At the head of the group was a man with a large mane of curls, and who was wearing a bright red jacket-a stark contrast to the dark clothes of the soldiers behind him.

"I'll assume you're big-hair guy," Mulligan guessed. The man in red squinted and clicked his tongue, then turned to glare at Lafayette.

"Is that what you've been calling me?" The man asked Lafayette, who shrunk down and avoided the other man's eyes. "Whatever." He reached out towards one of the people behind him. When they saw what he was given, Mulligan and Lafayette both held up their guns. The man they aimed at simply raised his eyebrows. "Oh, stop it. I know you won't shoot." All the Thirds behind him raised their own weapons; Mulligan and Lafayette raised their arms in defense (in Lafayette's case, the one arm that worked). The man with big hair smiled darkly at them and said, "Although," he gestured towards the people behind him, "I know that they will." Before Lafayette and Mulligan could react, the man nodded to his men, and two of them fired their guns.

One bullet hit Mulligan's right hand, knocking the gun out of his grasp, and causing him to stumble backwards. As he held his bleeding hand to his chest and hissed in pain, he looked around to see where the second bullet had gone.

The second bullet had gone directly into Lafayette's head, making his dark eyes cold and dull with the blankness of death.

" _Shit_." Mulligan whispered.

"Oh, don't get so upset," the man in red cooed. "He was useless. I needed someone new." He smirked and leaned against the weapon he had been given earlier: an axe. "Since we'll be spending so much time together, I might as well properly introduce myself." Mulligan gulped, knowing what he was entailing.

A's voice broke through the clouding fear, saying, "Stay calm. The squad's almost there."

"You can call me Jefferson," the man in red told Mulligan, taking a few steps forward. Mulligan tried to step back, but found that he was backed against a wall. "I also go by 'Your Worst Nightmare'."

Jefferson wore a shit-eating grin, until Mulligan said, idiotically, "You can't seriously be using that line." Suddenly, Mulligan felt the bones in his right arm cracking-no, _shattering_.

"I'd advise that you _never_ talk to me like that again," Jefferson growled, moving the axe away from Mulligan's arm and instead pressing the top of it into his chest. The blunt side of the weapon had been the one to hit Mulligan's arm, so he wasn't cut, but now the axe was positioned like a lever; if it was pulled down, the blade would tear into his torso. Jefferson's other hand moved up to Mulligan's chin, lifting it to meet the near-seductive, yet crazed, look on his face. "I am under strict orders to do _whatever_ I want to you to get you to talk. So if you so much as _try_ to-" A gunshot went off behind him.

Mulligan looked around Jefferson to see that a Third had fallen to the ground. Not dead, but injured. Behind the Thirds was now a large group of people, all wearing black, and carrying a gun or knife or some other weapon.

The Union had arrived.

A battle was in full swing in a matter of seconds.

Jefferson glared at Mulligan, then turned back to the fight, barking orders at his soldiers. Guns were shot throughout the hallway, and shouts echoed from every direction. Mulligan watched as his teammates dodged bullets and blades almost easily. Jefferson had left the cell, leaving an opportunity for someone of the Union to slip inside, unnoticed. His uniform had a blue stripe across the front, signifying that he was the captain of the squadron. His long hair was held back tightly in a bun, so that if Mulligan didn't know him, he might have thought the hair was straight.

"Laurens, could you have taken any longer to get here?" Mulligan asked, attempting to smile.

I could've, actually," Laurens grinned as he took a few basic medical supplies out of his bag.

"Well, you're too late anyway." Mulligan nodded towards the body in the corner.

"That was your fault." Laurens reached out. "Give me your hand."

"My arm is broken, idiot." Laurens rolled his eyes and grabbed Mulligan's hand, opening a flask of water with his mouth. As he cleaned the wound and wrapped a bandage around it, Mulligan wondered, "How is this my fault?" Mulligan flinched as Laurens tightened the bandage.

"You were sent on this mission, and you failed."

"Duck." Laurens immediately fell to his knees at Mulligan's word. A Third was standing behind him, about to attack, so Mulligan punched him with his left hand. At the same time, Laurens swung his legs back, knocking the Third to the floor. "I was ambushed," Mulligan mentioned as he and Laurens picked up the Third by his arms and threw him head first into the wall. "That doesn't count as failing."

"Yeah, okay," Laurens headed over to Lafayette's body. "Ugh...they always look so weird..." He gently closed Lafayette's eyelids, and looked back at Mulligan. "The squad should be able to cover us while we leave, but we have to go now." Mulligan nodded and stepped forward, using his working arm to help Laurens lift Lafayette. When they had his body situated between them, they made their way through the door, and into the battlefield of a hallway before them.

As soon as they saw their captain, the people of the Union fought to push back the Thirds, trying to make a path of escape. Mulligan ducked under several thrown punches, stepped over a few unconscious bodies, and kicked a Third's gun away from her on his way out.

"Stop right there!" A somewhat disheveled Jefferson ran out in front of them, pointing a pistol at Laurens.

"What is with you and stupid, cliché one-liners?" Mulligan asked. Laurens shot him a glare that read exactly what Jefferson screamed next.

" _Shut up!_ " Jefferson's arm twitched slightly, which was problematic because it was the arm he held a loaded gun with. "You aren't getting away this easily." Jefferson snarled.

Mulligan's attention was caught by a silver glint on the ground next to Jefferson. He smirked and said, "I'm just going to deny that." Jefferson had only a moment of confusion before he gasped at something climbing up his leg.

"What the hell?" Jefferson looked down to see one of Mulligan's robotic bugs on his calf. He tried to kick it off, but the bug stayed firmly planted. Jefferson reached down and tore the robot from his leg and held it up to see it better. All of a sudden, the bug hissed and erupted into an enormous cloud of smoke. Jefferson screeched, while Mulligan and Laurens ran, unseen in the cloud. Behind them, other bugs exploded, completely obscuring any possible vision in the hallway.

A few minutes later, when the smoke had cleared, the Union was nowhere to be seen.

* * *

 _ **Later that day...**_

"What are you going to do with him?" Laurens asked. He was back at the Union's headquarters, talking to the chief of their medical staff, who went simply by "E". In front of them was a gurney on which was a sedated Mulligan.

"I've already done everything I can," E sighed. "I'll have to hand him over to P if we still want him fighting."

"P has Lafayette, though, right? So, now she has to fix four broken limbs?" Laurens smiled, but E stared at him seriously.

"Lafayette has more than just broken limbs, you know." E crossed her arms, then uncrossed them again when Laurens looked at her quizzically. She pointed out each injury Lafayette had, but on her own body. "Not only did he have a broken arm and two broken legs, one of which was broken at the femur," E explained, "but he has a lot of other, more drastic injuries, that went completely unnoticed by both you and Mulligan." Laurens' face heated up slightly at the upset tone in E's voice. "He has near ruptures in some of his internal organs, a few cracks in his skull, minor brain damage, several knife wounds, and a couple broken ribs; one of which is about 1.7 centimeters away from piercing his heart. A ton of work needs to be done on him."

"Okay, I get it," Laurens raised his hands in defense. "He's got crap-ton of problems." E nodded curtly.

"Mulligan, on the other hand, just has one." With that, E started pushing the gurney down the hall. Laurens followed her, continuing the conversation.

"It's still really bad, though. I mean, it's been a long time since the Thirds have tortured someone to this extent."

E turned to Laurens with a look that read, "Am I really the person you want to talk to about this?" What she actually said was, "They're trying to do more because they know that we're going to stop them."

"Yeah, I guess..." Laurens shrugged as they stopped in front of a metal door, with tiny yellow stars painted on it. E knocked softly on the door, then stood politely, waiting for it to open. When nothing happened, she frowned and pounded on the door. A high-pitched voice shouted in surprise, and the metal of the door squealed as it slid open.

"Come on in," a girl called out, over the sounds on clanging and grinding metal. E pushed the gurney into the large room, and Laurens stepped in after her. A girl with curly, brown hair and caramel-toned skin was standing over a table on the other side of the room. She wore multiple tool belts, grease-stained gloves, and bulky goggles over her eyes. Just as Laurens and E walked inside, the girl hastily pulled a sheet over whatever was on the table in front of her. She turned around to organize supplies on a shelf, and asked, "What do you want?"

"We brought Mulligan," E mentioned. "So, if you could fix him up, that would be great, P."

"Ugh..." P groaned and faced them, pushing her goggles onto her forehead. "I'm kinda working on something right now..." She gestured to the table.

"P, it's just one arm," John told her. "That takes you, like, a week to do that." P rolled her eyes.

"But this is a _huge_ project," P whined.

"Can you please just work on something important, instead of one of your projects?"

"But-"

"P." E placed her hands on her hips sternly.

"...Fine." P pulled the gurney farther into her room, albeit begrudgingly.

"I thought you would love this. You enjoy fixing and building things more than anything. How come you don't want to now?" P turned away from E, and moved to a shelf full of wires and metal plates.

"This," P pointed at the sheet-covered table, "is going to be _big_."

"What is it?" Laurens asked. He walked towards the table and reached out to lift the sheet. A wrench hit his hand, and when he yelped in pain and looked up, P was suddenly right next to him.

"It's a surprise," P told him. "Now, back off." Laurens nodded and backed up fearfully.

"Wait, where's Lafayette?" E wondered. P smirked and pulled her goggles back over her eyes.

"You'll see them in a few weeks." P stood over Mulligan, and pulled a handheld buzz saw out of her tool belt. "Now, you might want to leave me alone."

* * *

 ** _Three weeks later..._**

"How's your arm?" Laurens asked as he walked up to Mulligan, who stood in the training field, reloading a pistol. It had been a week since he left P's workshop, but he had basically avoided everyone for a few days.

"It's fine, I guess..." Mulligan mumbled, not looking up. Laurens nodded in understanding.

"Yeah, it's...it's really weird at first. But you'll get used to it soon." Laurens patted Mulligan's right shoulder, and the latter flinched at the contact.

"Yo, Fluffy! Dumplings!" Laurens and Mulligan looked behind them at the nicknames that A called them. The setting sun shone on her face, her eyes reflecting the light from afar. "Magnets' got something to show us." Recognizing P's nickname, Mulligan and Laurens glanced at each other in suspicion, but followed A inside anyway.

When the three of them got to the workshop, E was already there, trying to calm P down, as she was pacing frantically around the room.

"P, please," E stressed. "It's not like you've never talked to him before."

"You don't understand. There's only an 77.8 percent chance that this will work properly." P groaned and massaged her temples.

"That's wonderful!" E assured. P whipped around to face her, making her jump in surprise.

"Are you kidding me?" P cried. "Everything else I've ever built has had a chance of success of 89.4 percent or higher."

"Oh no..." Laurens whispered. "She's panicking again." P started hyperventilating, and held a whole metal fan to her face.

"Yes, she is," E muttered. She turned around headed towards the door.

"Where are you going, Mouse?" A asked as E opened the door.

"I'm checking to see if-oh boy."

"What is it?"

"P, don't freak out, but he's coming." P gasped, spun around, and tried to hold in a scream.

"Too late. I'm freaking out!" P threw her arms and head onto a workbench, making the tools on it bounce and make a loud clang.

"Is everything alright?" Everyone in the room turned towards the voice in the doorway. A man was standing there with a nearly emotionless face, and a silver pin of the American flag on his shirt. The door closed loudly behind him, as if for dramatic affect. Everyone but P, because she was mortified, stood up straight and saluted the man in front of them.

General Washington.

P looked as if she was going to faint. "Uh...n-no-I mean, yes," P stuttered. "Everything's fine." Her voice cracked, contradicting her statement. "At least, there's a 77.8 percent chance that everything will be fine," she muttered.

"You know we'll be impressed by whatever you have to show us, P," Washington said with a faint smile. P's eyes lit up at the compliment.

"Okay," P took a deep breath, and started her speech. "I wanted all of you to be the first to see this because you're the most important people in my life. Mulligan is one of my best friends; my other best friends are Laurens, A, and E, who also happen to be my sisters and brother; and, well, General Washington is my boss." A few quiet laughs echoed through the room. "So, it's an extreme honor to have you all here to see..." She took hold of the sheet on the table in front of her. "This." P pulled the sheet away like a magician, revealing the body of Lafayette, in perfect condition, and asleep.

That is, it would have been assumed that they were asleep, if not for the fact that they weren't breathing.

"Um...P?" Mulligan said after a moment. "I think that 32.2 percent of possible failure may have caught up with you."

"Yeah, I mean, he looks great, but isn't he supposed to be, you know, alive?" Laurens asked hesitantly. A glint appeared in P's eyes that most in the Union called the "mad scientist" look. She immediately began to talk and move her arms terrifyingly fast.

"Okay, they're not technically alive by _your_ standards," P explained, "but...they're still... Listen, I've always wanted to try this, but I couldn't really try it on someone like Mulligan, who just had a broken arm. So when Lafayette was brought in, with injuries all over the place, I had to take the chance I was given, y'know?"

"P, what are you talking about?" Laurens questioned. "What did you do to him?"

"Them."

"What?"

" _Them_. Use them. Lafayette doesn't have a sex, and I'm 90 percent sure, even with the most advanced emotions I can fabricate, they won't really feel the need to pick one, so...I think they and them would be best." P smiled as if she had just won an award, though many in the room groaned at her random ranting.

"Miss Schuyler," Washington said, catching P's attention by using her last name. "Please tell us why Lafayette is more special than your other revivals and prosthetics."

P suddenly became serious and focused, finally clarifying, "Well, Sir, as you know, Laurens here," she gestured towards Laurens, who looked confused as to why he was involved, "is almost completely human. Lafayette is the opposite. The only parts of them that are 'human', I guess, are his looks and memories." Washington blinked.

"Wait," Laurens' voice cut through the momentary silence. "So, is he-I mean-are _they_ a...robot?" P nodded with an awkward smile on her face. "Woah...weird..." Laurens grinned.

"Are they functional?" Washington asked.

"Uh..." P nervously rubbed her neck. "I...have no idea." Everyone stared at her, confused. "I haven't been able to test anything yet, hence why there's only a 77.8 percent chance of this working."

"Well, then, why don't you test them now?" Washington suggested.

"Okay," P answered with a shaky breath. She stepped closer to the table, and gently turned Lafayette's head to the side. She pressed her fingers to the bottom of the back of their skull until something clicked. Faint buzzes and whirs were heard coming from their body as P stepped back again. Slowly, Lafayette's eyes opened. "Lafayette?" P called, leaning over to get in their line of vision. Lafayette's realistic, yet unreal, eyes flicked to the side to meet her's. "Hi, there. Can you see and hear me clearly?" After a moment, Lafayette's head turned down in what P assumed was a nod. She smiled and told them, "Try to move; sit up if you can." In hesitant, jagged movements, Lafayette turned the joints in their arms and legs, then pressed their hands on the table, pushing themselves up. They turned to face the other people in the room, studying each of them. "Can you stand?" Lafayette gradually slid off the table, wobbling slightly when they got up all the way. P walked around them, whispering to herself as she looked them over. After a minute, she stood next to them and asked, "How do you feel?" Getting no response other than Lafayette's head turning to face her very quickly, P anxiously asked, "Can you talk?"

Everyone watched on in awe as Lafayette slowly opened their mouth and spoke in in a stiff voice.

"I...feel...alive."

 **So...this is a thing that I decided to write partially because you asked for it for some reason. I had no idea what genre to put this into but whatever. I also decided to finish and post this at just about 12:30 at night, so I'm obviously intelligent.**

 **This being a prologue, it doesn't explain a lot, but being a prologue, it's also basically a test to see if you're interested or not.**

 **If you want to keep reading when I probably post more, Alexander is actually the most prominent character, and there will be a chapter in which they discuss Lafayette's gender situation more. I'll also explain what a Third is, and about what P does for the Union, because the latter is weird and shouldn't be possible but...fiction!**

 **Please, let me know how you felt about this, and if you want to see more. This chapter was loooong...like, I don't know how I did this. I've surprised myself. Although, it took me a week or longer to write this, I think...? I'm tired. Good (insert whatever time it is), friends!**


	2. Chapter 1: In the Line of Fire

_**Six months later...**_

A mid-autumn breeze blew Laurens' hair out of his grasp as he tried to tie it up. Mulligan watched him struggle for a moment out of the corner of his eye, then turned to him in frustration.

"Why didn't you fix your hair _before_ we got here?" Mulligan asked.

Laurens pulled a hair tie from his teeth and glared at Mulligan before responding, "Hey, Mulligan?"

"Yeah?"

"You know, it's weird, but, I don't remember you giving birth to me." Laurens punctuated his sentence by fiercely tightening his ponytail.

"Well, I'm sorry, _captain_ ," Mulligan sneered. "But it wastes time. Even Laf keeps their hair up all the time."

Lafayette, who stood behind them, perked up and reminded him, "My hair is not real." Mulligan fumbled for an argument while Lafayette and Laurens just stared at him expectantly.

"Just...stop." Laurens shook his head and laughed softly at Mulligan, who, in response, lightly punched his left shoulder. " _Ow_ ," Laurens winced much more than he should have.

"Is something wrong, Laurens?" Lafayette wondered.

"I'm fine. My shoulder just hurts again." Laurens stared ahead blankly and rolled his shoulder out.

"You always say that something hurts just before we go on a mission," Mulligan mentioned. "How are you still a captain if you're so lazy?"

"I'm not lazy. It actually hurts."

"Actually," Lafayette cut in, "that occurrence is something called-"

"I already know I've lost the arguments, Laf," Mulligan groaned.

"Mulligan-"

"I don't need your science to-" Lafayette cut Mulligan off by covering his mouth. They pointed to an alleyway four buildings away, in which stood a few people in black, and one in red. They moved their hand away from Mulligan's face once he saw the Thirds. "Oh."

"Maybe you should start listening to your hyper-intelligent friend more often," Lafayette smirked. Though their tone was lacking the inflection of sass, Mulligan still stuck his tongue out in response.

"A, we found them," Mulligan said into his earpiece.

Though only Mulligan had spoken to her, A's voice was heard by all three of them. "Great. The shipment should arrive at approximately 1:30." Laurens checked his watch, reading 12:17 a.m.

"Guess we're waiting for a while," Laurens sighed and sat down, swinging his legs over the edge of the roof. The city around him was quiet and empty at night, like a constant, happy, calm. He wished he thought the world was actually like that.

"You want some candy?" Mulligan's voice shook Laurens out of his thoughts. Laurens turned to see Mulligan holding out a bag of M&M's.

"Did you steal those from P again?" Laurens asked, taking a few of the candies.

"What? No..." Laurens laughed as Mulligan sat down next to him.

"May I have one?" Lafayette asked, coming closer to them, and reaching out a hand.

"Laf, you don't have taste buds," Laurens reminded them. "And if you try to eat anything, it'll mess up your whole system. Don't you remember the french fry incident?"

"Yes, but I want to throw one." Mulligan stared at Lafayette in confusion and offense.

"Why would you want to throw away perfectly good chocolate?" Mulligan questioned. Lafayette just shrugged.

"Why are you so protective over chocolate?" Laurens wondered, holding an M&M out to Lafayette.

"Thank you, Laurens," Lafayette smiled as they took the candy. They took a step forward and threw the chocolate; it landed all the way across the street, but the three people on the roof didn't watch it go that far. Instead, they leaned forward to better see the person walking along the sidewalk in front of the building they were on.

"Who is that?" Laurens asked no one in particular.

"A male, young adult," Lafayette observed, despite being four stories above the ground.

"A Third?" Mulligan asked.

"No. Not one of ours either. Pedestrian."

"I'm assuming the Thirds he's walking towards don't know that." Mulligan's assumption had to have been correct, and he and his teammates realized this as they watched the boy continue on his path.

"He's going straight into the line of fire." Laurens stood up and moved to the side of the roof opposite of the direction the pedestrian was going. Lafayette and Mulligan followed him. "Why do we have to deal with this in the middle of the night?" Laurens groaned. Suddenly, he took off into a sprint towards the other side of the roof, leaping at the last second, and landing on top of the next building over. Lafayette passed him as they headed to the third building. When Laurens jumped again, he had to reach up to the roof, and pull himself up. All the while, Laurens tried to keep his eye on the boy down below. Said boy was right in front of the Thirds by now, and Laurens realized he wouldn't make it in time.

Laurens barely heard the gunshot, meaning the Thirds had silencers on their weapons, but he heard the boy below scream, meaning he had probably been the one who was shot. Laurens jumped from the building he was on, latched onto the wall in front of him, then pushed off and took hold of the first again. As he lowered himself to the ground this way, with Mulligan doing the same behind him, Lafayette simply jumped off the roof altogether, landing perfectly on their feet on the ground. The three of them ran forward, but froze for a moment at the scene in front of them.

"I told you, I don't know what you're talking about." Despite having multiple weapons now pointed at him, the boy shouted at the Thirds as if he was in charge of them. He pulled the left sleeve of his sweatshirt down, as to tie it around his wrist. When he winced as he knotted it, Laurens noticed blood seeping through the cloth. Laurens stepped into the small amount of light on the sidewalk and cleared his throat loudly, gaining the attention of everyone there. By the time they all turned to look at him, Laurens, Mulligan, and Lafayette all had their guns drawn. "What the actual fu- _mmph_!" One of the Thirds grabbed the boy and held him tight against her, covering his mouth, and holding a dagger to his chest.

"Oh, come _on_ ," Laurens muttered. He aimed his gun at the Third's arm, and pulled the- _what the...?_

The boy that Laurens was about to save suddenly kicked back, hitting the knee of the Third behind him. In one swift motion, he spun, grabbed her arm, and twisted it back forcefully, making the knife drop from her hand. As he stepped away, he picked up the dagger and twirled it between his fingers, the shadowy look in his eyes meeting everyone else's. His face was cut during the scuffle, a single drop of blood trailing down his cheek.

 _Damn..._ Laurens blinked and cleared his head, focusing on the Thirds in front of him. He glanced at his teammates to be sure they were ready, then said, "Alright. Showtime." Laurens shot forward just as fast as the bullet that fired from Mulligan's gun. He tackled a Third to the ground, knocked their gun from their hand, and fought to keep the upper hand. Meanwhile, Lafayette went towards the last two Thirds, dodged their punches (and a gunshot), and tore their weapons from their hands. They threw the guns as far as they could, which was approximately 300 feet. Mulligan was fighting next to them, and Laurens' eyes flicked up from his personal fight for a second, which was just enough time to see Mulligan elbow a Third in the face, knocking him out instantly. Mulligan bent down and grabbed the Third Laurens was fighting: the one in red. "Hold on to him," Laurens ordered. Mulligan simply nodded as his captain turned around.

Laurens scanned the area, but saw no sign of the boy from earlier. Out of the corner of his eye, however, there was a flash of movement down an alleyway. Laurens ran that direction, turned into the alley, and immediately felt a blade pressed against his chest. In the moonlight, he saw the small-framed boy from before, glaring at him.

"Who are you people, and what the hell is going on?" The boy growled.

"I can't tell you right now," Laurens answered, slowly raising his hands to convey peace. "But, if you calmly come with me-"

"Calm? _Fucking calm?_ " The boy tightened his grip on his dagger for emphasis. "I was just attacked, then you showed up and started fighting this other gang, I'm probably going to pass out from blood loss because I was _shot_ , and you think I can be calm? You think I would just go somewhere with you crazy people?"

"We can fix whatever injuries you have," Laurens assured. The boy seemed to be halfway interested for a moment, but took up his angry persona as quickly as he had dropped it.

"I don't care. A hospital can do the same."

"We can do it for free. And, afterwards, we'll tell you what's going on."

"You keep saying 'we'. Do you mean you and your buddies back there?" Laurens nodded.

"There's more of us."

"Oh, wonderful."

"Listen, we aren't going to hurt you." Laurens abruptly grabbed the boy's wrist, twisted him around, pulled the knife from his hand, and held him in place, despite how much he tried to get away. "Stop struggling. We're the good guys." Laurens dragged the boy out of the alley and back towards Mulligan, Lafayette, and the group of Thirds on the ground. "Lafayette," Laurens called over the boy's cries for freedom. "Put him to sleep, please." Lafayette headed over to Laurens, fiddling with the end of one of their fingers.

"Put me to sleep?" The boy shrieked. "I thought you said you wouldn't hurt me!"

"Yeah, well, you're loud and annoying and giving me a headache." Laurens held the boy's arms with one hand, and used the other to push the boy's head to the side, better revealing his neck.

"Laurens, please. You are scaring him." Lafayette raised their hand to the boy's throat, the tip of their index finger seemingly replaced by a needle. "This will only hurt a little." Lafayette pierced the boy's skin with the needle, inserting it into a vein.

"What was that?" The boy questioned when Lafayette pulled the needle out a second later. "Is that going to kill me?"

"No. You will just fall asleep so that we may transport you easier."

"Transport? Where are...you..." The boy's eyelids dropped, and his body slumped over.

"Thank God," Laurens sighed. "Mulligan, you take him." Mulligan walked over, and lifted the boy with one arm. Relieved of his burden, Laurens stretched, and spoke into his earpiece, "A, send a truck. We've got four Thirds and...ugh...and a pedestrian. And tell E and P to get ready to help, too." Laurens didn't bother listening to A's response, but instead laid down on the ground in an attempt to rest.

* * *

Alexander still felt exhausted when he woke up. Artificial light flooded his vision as pieces of blurry memories seeped into his brain. He sat up slowly, in a bed that wasn't his, and rubbed his throbbing temples. Actually, now that he thought about it, the room he was in wasn't his either. It's not like he was in someone else's dorm; he didn't have any friends (he really just avoided people altogether), and none of the dorms looked like this anyway.

"Good afternoon, Sleeping Beauty." Alexander jumped at the voice from the other side of the room. He spun around to see a boy with curly hair leaning casually against a wall. "How do you feel?" Instead of answering, Alexander shot out of the bed, then fell back onto it, the room spinning and his head about to explode. "I'll take that as a 'not well'."

"Where am I, and what did you do to me?" Alex asked, trying to make himself sound intimidating. It didn't work.

"Well, I can't tell you where you are, but we kept you asleep for a little over a week while your hand was being fixed." The boy pushed off of the wall, and took a step forward. Alexander stood and scrambled backwards, although still in pain. "Speaking of, how's your hand?"

"My...hand?" It took Alexander a moment to recall the wound to his left wrist and hand. He raised his arm, suspiciously flicking his gaze between his hand and the boy in front of him. Though he didn't trust the person who had taken him here, Alex was more scared of the fact that his wrist was lacking a wound, bandage, scar, or anything that would indicate that an injury had occurred at all. "Wh-what happened? Why isn't...why..." The other boy just stood patiently, letting Alexander form a proper question. As Alex rolled out his wrist and bent his fingers, he felt his joints turn almost unnaturally easily, yet as if his hand could slip off of his arm if not for a small magnet or some string. "Why does it feel so..."

"Weird?" The other boy guessed with a smirk. Alex met his gaze with wide eyes. "Yeah, sorry to tell you, but that's not your hand." Alexander sucked in a breath, suddenly paralyzed.

"What does that mean?" Alexander asked shakily.

"It means you're part robot now. Which, I mean, I guess it's pretty cool, but-" Alexander cut the boy off by screaming. Just screaming for a second or two and falling to his knees from all the confusion, fear, and stressful information he had just been told. As he sat hyperventilating, the other boy hesitantly came closer and knelt down to Alexander.

"My name is Laurens," the boy whispered. "Can't tell you my first name, or where you are, or some other stuff, but most of your questions I will be able to answer if you don't mind answering some of mine, and if you stay calm."

"Too late for that," Alexander mumbled, pulling his knees up to his chest. "But...I do have a lot of questions."

"Shoot."

"Are you part of the government?"

"We were started by the government decades ago, and they know about us and what we do, but, no, we aren't technically part the government."

"Are you spies?"

"Um...I guess...in a way?" Laurens chuckled softly. "We _do_ call ourselves an agency. We're, like, an underground army. We're called the Union."

"Who were the people you were fighting?"

"We call them Thirds. Their leader, their _third_ leader, to be more specific, is known as the king. He's an asshole."

"What do they do?" Alexander wondered, relaxing ever-so-slightly. "What do you do?"

"We essentially stop them from taking over the government. The Union gets information on the Thirds, tracks them down, and stops whatever they're doing."

"Do you kill them?"

"We try not to."

"That's stupid." Alexander's bluntness seemed to have surprised Laurens.

"What's stupid?"

"Why don't you kill them if you have the chance?" Alex suggested. "It'll certainly lower their numbers."

"What's wrong with being merciful?" Alexander couldn't tell if Laurens' tone was meant to be dark, peaceful, or just plain questioning, and the spark in his eyes didn't help to clear it up.

"Nothing's wrong with it," Alexander mumbled. "You kept me alive, didn't you?" Laurens just grinned, making Alex turn away and clear his throat. "Um...I'll answer some of your questions now."

"Okay," Laurens reclined against the bed. "How old are you?"

"19," Alexander responded. "You?"

"22. Are you in school?"

"Yes. King's college."

"Do you have parents?"

"What kind of question is that?" Alexander asked, offended.

"You don't have to-"

"I don't have a family. Next question."

"Are you sure?"

"Just get it over with," Alex demanded.

"Can you shoot a gun?"

"Depends on who the target is."

"Who?"

"Keep going."

"Okay, can you speak any other languages?"

"I'm fluent in both Spanish and French."

"What's your IQ?"

"144. You?"

"Huh..." Laurens smiled. "145. We're both geniuses. What's the capital of North Dakota?"

"Bismarck, why?"

"I forgot. Are you allergic to anything?"

"Nuts." Laurens snorted. "What?"

"Nothing," Laurens said through quiet snickers.

"Are these questions actually important?"

"Yes. There's just a few more."

"Hurry up, then."

"What's your last name?"

"I don't have to tell you that."

"That's fine," Laurens said. There was a short silence before he continued, "Why were you walking around in the middle of the night?"

"No comment."

"What scares you?"

"No comment."

"Are you happy with your life?"

Alexander didn't respond for a moment, the question being one he had asked himself too many times. His voice was quiet when he answered, "No comment." He watched Laurens stand and move towards the door, his back facing Alexander. "Can I leave now?"

Laurens sighed painfully. "Would I have needed to ask you all those questions if you were allowed to leave?" Alexander blinked, processing.

" _What_?" Alex jumped to his feet. "Why can't I leave?"

"Have you heard the phrase 'If I told you, I'd have to kill you'?" Laurens asked, slowly turning to Alexander's terrified face. "I'm not going to kill you, if that's what you're thinking. However, you were a witness, and I've told you quite a bit about us, so now you have to stay."

"What kind of bullshit is this?"

"It's protocol."

"Kidnapping random people who get stuck in the middle of one of your fights is protocol? This happens often?"

"It happens," Laurens shrugged. A knock sounded at the door, keeping Alexander from speaking anymore.

"The general is ready to see him," a girl said from outside the room. "Dumplings and Potatoes will meet you at his office."

"Thank you, A." Laurens pinched the bridge of his nose and groaned. "Listen, just...come talk to our leader. He can explain much better than I can." Alexander stared at him in irritation.

"Fine."

"You're just going to go along with this?" Laurens asked suspiciously.

"My only other choice is death, apparently." Laurens nodded once, then turned and opened the door. Alexander hesitated, but pushed himself to move forward and followed Laurens out of the room. They passed a tall girl with dark hair and skin, and pale, glassy eyes that stared at Alexander lifelessly, yet as if they were calculating his every move. Alex looked away quickly, shivered, and trailed closely behind Laurens.

As they walked down the hall, the boys passed dozens of other people. Some were in normal clothes, while others wore black, red, blue, or white suits. Every one of them watched Alexander pass by with intrigue. When their gaze turned to Laurens, however, they either looked away or nodded curtly.

Eventually, Laurens stopped walking in front of a door that was painted to look like the American flag. Next to the door were the two other people Alex recognized from the fight he had been thrown into.

"This is Mulligan," Laurens said, gesturing to the larger built man with a black bandana around his head. "He's my right hand man."

"Why do you have a right hand man?" Alexander wondered.

"Because I'm the captain of the best squadron here," Laurens replied smugly.

"Oh."

"And this is Lafayette," Laurens directed Alex's attention to the person next to Mulligan. "Laf for short. They/them pronouns, please and thank you." Alexander looked up Lafayette, and instantly felt that there was something...off about them. Something strange about how not-strange they were. Their hair was in too perfect of coils, their skin was too smooth and unblemished, and they stood too straight. Then, as he examined them closer, Alex saw that they had the same pale eyes as the girl from before, they never blinked, and their chest never rose or fell to indicate breathing. Alexander shivered again. Laurens knocked on the door, and called out, "The new kid is here."

"I'm not a kid," Alexander argued.

"We're all kids," Laurens mumbled as the door slid open.

"Come in, Laurens," a voice ordered from inside the room.

"Watch him," Laurens said to his teammates as he walked inside.

When the door closed, Alexander was suddenly alone with these new, scary people, and _oh, God, why are they staring at me?_

"Laf, you're scaring him," the one named Mulligan said. Lafayette kept their blank stare locked on Alexander, however, making the boy shrink back and turn away.

Lafayette opened their mouth to speak, but the voice that came out was monotone and seemingly full of static. "Laurens said to watch him." Alexander also decided that they were faking a French accent.

"He just meant to make sure he doesn't leave," Mulligan sighed.

After a moment, Lafayette responded, "I will watch him anyway."

"Please, don't," Alexander pleaded meekly. Lafayette inspected him closely, then finally looked away.

"As you wish."

Alexander released a breath of relief when the door opened again and Laurens motioned for him to come inside. Mulligan and Lafayette followed them in, then the door shut suddenly behind them, making Alexander jump. A man sat at a desk in front of them with a stern look on his face. Laurens gently pushed Alexander forward, then stepped back to give him the spotlight. The spotlight that Alexander did not want.

"My name is Washington," the older man said to Alexander. "Laurens has already explained to you why you have to be here, correct?" Alex nodded sheepishly. "Has he explained why we _want_ you here?"

"Excuse me?" Alexander questioned. Washington grinned.

"Lafayette, please show us the fight he was involved in." Lafayette stepped forward at Washington's command. They faced an empty wall and...just stood there. Alexander was confused for a moment, then gasped as light began streaming out of one of Lafayette's eyes, projecting an image onto the wall.

"Woah..." Alexander watched as a video played straight from Lafayette's eye. It was a recording of Alexander as he fought out of the grasp of one of the Thirds. When the video ended, Lafayette stepped back, and Alex turned back to Washington. "Why is that so important?"

"Where did you learn to fight like that?" Washington asked, leaning forward.

"I..." Alexander stuttered. "I taught myself." He stood straighter and looked more aloof.

"Why?" Alex shrunk back down.

"Self-defense."

"Against who?"

"Why do you need to know?"

"I like your stubbornness, Son."

"Don't call me that." Washington raised an eyebrow.

"I've been told you are extremely intelligent."

"Yes, sir," Alexander smirked. "I-"

"Not as smart as many of us here, however." Alexander faltered. This man had just challenged his intelligence. No one challenged Alexander Hamilton's intelligence and got away with it.

"I'm sorry? Are you implying that I'm stupid?"

"Of course not. I'm just saying you aren't better than anyone here." Washington squinted mischievously at Alexander. "You would certainly lose any fight against my soldiers in a heartbeat, for sure." Alexander gaped at him in rage.

"I know what you're doing," Alex sneered. "You're trying to make me work for you by using my pride against me."

"Unless you can prove me wrong, I am just telling you the truth." Alexander fumed, feeling like steam was about to erupt from his ears. Someone snickered behind him, and when he turned around, Laurens just laughed harder.

"You're adorable when you're angry," Laurens giggled. Alex's face flushed red with hot shame. "Aw, look, he's blushing. I wonder if the baby's gonna-" Alexander lunged forward, punching Laurens in the gut. Laurens stumbled back in more shock than pain, and fell into Lafayette, who didn't move a muscle.

" _Shut up!_ " Alexander screamed, taking a step towards Laurens. He spun back around to face Washington, and growled, "You...I can easily prove you wrong."

"Please do," Washington smirked. "I'm sure these three wouldn't mind testing your skills on the training field."

"Dibs on being his trainer!" Laurens cried out.

"As long as the others can help."

"Yes!" Laurens exclaimed, raising his fists excitedly.

"What? Trainer? I don't need a trainer," Alexander told Washington.

The man looked Alexander over and said, "Yes, you do."

Before Alex could respond, Laurens grabbed his arm and pulled him away, yelling, "Let's go!" with a huge smile on his face.

As Alexander was dragged out of the room and down the hall, all he could think was, _What did I just let myself get pulled into?_


	3. Chapter 2: The Super Sisters

"I can't believe I actually let him get to me," Alexander groaned as he followed Laurens through the complex, with Lafayette and Mulligan in tow. "I can't believe I'm doing this."

"You'll be fine," Laurens assured. "After all, you're about to prove to us all that you are a better fighter than us, right?" Alexander glared at him.

"You aren't very good at hiding sarcasm."

"Sarcasm isn't meant to be hidden." Laurens opened a large door, and the four of them were bathed in sunlight. In front of them was what appeared to be a more intense version of a high school football field. In the center was a shooting range, punching bags and dummies, pull up bars, and mats of different colors. It was all surrounded by a track, part of which was covered in hurdles. "We have a weight room inside, but I don't need to see your muscles just yet." Laurens winked as he walked away.

 _Was that...nope. Not even going to think about it._ Alexander crossed his arms and begrudgingly followed Laurens to the field. They walked to the shooting range, which was surrounded on three sides by a metal wall. Laurens took a pistol off one of the walls, checked to see if it was loaded, then fired three shots down the range, making Alexander jump at the sound. The target at the end of the makeshift hall was the outline of a human, and the bullets Laurens had fired went through the neck, chest, and stomach. He turned around, giving Alexander both the gun and a smile.

"Your turn," Laurens said, holding the gun closer to Alexander, who refused to take it.

"What? Why? I thought you wanted me to fight," Alexander reminded him.

"Weapons are used in the fights we get into, if you remember correctly." Laurens nodded down to Alex's hand. "And, you seemed pretty confident about being able to shoot when I asked." Alexander hesitantly took the pistol from Laurens, immediately regretting doing so. Seeing the weapon in his own hands took him back too far, the weight in his chest heavier than the weight of the gun.

"I-I don't think-"

"Who did you have in mind when I asked if you could shoot?"

"Wh-what?"

"You said you could shoot a gun depending on _who_ the target was. Who is that, exactly?"

"It's about to be you," Alexander mumbled.

"You won't shoot me," Laurens said, sure of himself. "You don't have to tell me who it is, but you should think about it. Imagine that target as that one person you would want to fight." Alexander stared at the target warily, an image already forming in his mind. "Just shoot three times, to the best of your ability. Then we can move on to-"

 _Bang. Bang. Bang._

Alexander fired all three shots into the head of the target, all of which ended up just inches apart from each other. For a moment, no one spoke or moved. Eventually, Alexander lowered his arm, and took a deep, shaky breath. Mulligan and Lafayette stepped up from behind him.

"How can you shoot that well?" Mulligan wondered.

"I was taught," Alex muttered.

"Why?" Laurens asked with a smirk. "Self-defense?" Alexander slowly looked at Laurens, staring daggers at him.

"No." Alexander shoved the gun into Laurens' chest, relieved when it was taken from his hands. "You said we could move on," Alexander mentioned as Laurens put the gun back on the wall. "I want to get this over with."

"Okay, follow me." Laurens headed over to a set of punching bags, and gestured to one. "Punch it."

"Huh?"

"Well, not yet." Laurens motioned for Lafayette to come closer.

"Wait, I just have to punch it?" Alexander asked as Lafayette took their place next to the bag.

"Would you rather do an unnecessarily complicated ninja move?" Laurens inquired.

"No, I just...never mind." Alexander decided to just rip the bandage off instead of questioning further. He reeled back, then punched forward with all his might. The bag rocked backwards, then forwards, catching Alexander off guard, and hitting his chest. No one seemed to notice, however, because Lafayette had spoken.

"2,704.52." Laurens' eyebrows raised at the number.

"What?" Alex wondered, stepping away from the swinging bag.

"Newtons," Lafayette stated. "It is a unit of force."

"I know that."

"Have you taken any fighting classes before?" Laurens questioned.

"A long time ago," Alexander said. "Why?"

"Because that is almost five times the amount of force as a punch by an untrained person." Alexander blinked.

"So?" Laurens opened his mouth to speak again, but shut it after a moment, putting Alexander at ease. Mulligan looked around the field awkwardly as Laurens gazed at Alexander, appearing lost in thought.

"Should we test kicking next?" Mulligan asked Laurens.

"Yeah..." Laurens mumbled. He gave Alexander one last look over, then turned and walked towards the opposite side of the field. Alex subconsciously began following him, noticing that Mulligan and Lafayette stayed behind for a moment.

Lafayette spoke up, "Laurens, that is not where-"

"I know, Laf." Laurens said, cutting them off. He stopped in the middle of an empty part of the field.

"Laurens, this part of the field is for-"

" _I know, Laf_." Lafayette sneered, then they and Mulligan moved back several feet.

"What is this part of the field for?" Alexander asked suspiciously.

"Sparring," Laurens answered.

"You want me to fight you?"

"Yes," Laurens said matter-of-factly. "You seem-" Alexander launched forward, aiming his fist directly at Laurens' face. He had expected to catch Laurens off guard, but the older boy shifted into a fighting stance faster than Alex could comprehend. Laurens grabbed Alexander's wrist, lifting his arm in the air. Alexander was spun around, felt something hit the back of his legs, then watched the ground speed towards him. His face hit the dirt, hard, and a knee landed on his back, pinning him down.

"What the hell?" Alexander shouted into the ground.

"I was going to say that you seem promising." Laurens got off of Alexander, giving him a chance to flip over. Laurens reached down to help Alexander up, but Alex just glared at him, standing on his own.

"Stop sucking up to me," Alexander demanded.

"What are you talking about?"

"You keep saying I'm doing everything really well, just so I'll feel more inclined to do what you tell me to." Laurens tried to speak again, but Alexander stopped him. "No. Don't even try to deny it. I understand psychology." Alexander took a few steps away from the people in front of him, his body shaking from the incoming breakdown. "And you don't even give people time to process the fact that they're stuck here, probably for the rest of their lives. You just bring them out here, tell them to shoot and punch, and then beat them into the ground. You're all completely crazy; they-" Alex pointed at Lafayette, stammering, "I don't know what's wrong with them; and you..." he then looked at Laurens, "you keep acting like I'm the closest friend you've got, and it's incredibly annoying, considering _you kidnapped me._ " Alexander huffed, running his hands through his hair as tears stung the corners of his eyes. "I should've gone down the other street..." he whispered. He moved his arms down to put them into the pocket of his sweatshirt, then realized: "Where's my sweatshirt?" When no one answered, Alexander asked again, "Where is my sweatshirt?"

"You just had a panic attack, and now you're upset about your outfit?" Mulligan wondered.

"I just...do you have it?" Alexander worried.

"Uh..." Laurens answered eloquently.

"I believe one of the girls might have it," Lafayette mentioned.

"I need it back." Alexander said, feeling angry and anxious at once.

"Okay, we'll go get it," Laurens groaned. "You need to meet my sisters anyways."

* * *

Alexander saw his precious sweatshirt before he saw the girl holding it. He ran up to her, and snatched the clothing out of her hands. He put it on as fast as he could, sighing from the comfort it brought him. When he put his hands in the pocket, his fingers brushed against the patch that was sewn on the inside, and he smiled slightly in relief.

"Nice to meet you, too." Alexander finally looked up at the girl in front of him. She had dark hair, and brown, almond-shaped eyes.

 _And she's cute, too, I guess._ Alexander caught himself thinking. _But not as cute as...nope. No, no, no. This is your problem, Alexander._

"This is my sister, E," Laurens said, bringing Alex out of his thoughts.

"E? Like, the letter?" Alexander wondered. Everyone around him nodded in exasperation.

"I'm the head of the medical staff here," E explained with a sweet smile. "You've spent quite a bit of time with me, though I'm sure you don't remember."

"That's not creepy..." Alexander mumbled.

E ignored him and continued, "I also washed that sweatshirt you're so fond of, and I had Mulligan sew up the holes in it." Alexander almost smiled. Almost. "And..." E hesitated to speak. "I had to take everything out of the pocket." It took Alexander moment to catch on, and his eyes widened when he did.

"Give them back," Alexander pleaded. E shook her head.

"We don't allow...those kinds of things here."

"Oh, I'm sorry, is it one of your stupid protocols to steal the personal belongings of the people you kidnap?"

"When you say it like that..." Alexander rolled his eyes.

"Some rule doesn't give you the right to have all my stuff!"

"And you don't have the right to yell at my sister!" Another voice called out from behind E. Two other girls appeared, intimidating Alex just by the sassy way they walked. The one who had spoken was the same glassy-eyed girl from earlier. Alexander shrunk underneath her dull stare, glad when she turned to Laurens. "Fluffy, she's your sister, too. Why didn't you stop this kid from being mean to her?"

"A, I'm fine," E groaned. The first girl stopped chastising Laurens, flicked her eyes between him and her sister.

"Are you sure, Mouse?" E nodded. "Okay..." The other girl suddenly faced Alexander with a wide smile."My name is A," the girl said, reaching out her hand. When Alexander refused the greeting, she grabbed his hand and shook it on her own. "What's your name?"

"I'm not telling you that." Alexander tore his arm away, and scowled at her.

"I'll figure one out," A said nonchalantly, chewing her lip in thought. Alexander was about to ask what she meant, when the third girl stepped up to him.

"I'm P." Alexander looked the girl over, and made a noteworthy observation. Besides the fact that much of her body was probably permanently stained with grease stains, she was young. As in, she looked like she should still be high school, instead of at this strange place. Alexander was still thinking when he realized that P had begun talking again. "And if you make fun of my name, I swear to whatever god you might believe in, I will make your hand explode." Alexander just looked at her in confusion for a moment.

"Excuse me?" P pointed at Alex's left hand.

"I fixed that," P told him. "Which means I can break it, too."

"P, stop threatening people," Laurens sighed.

"I can do what I want, Bro."

"No, you can't."

"I have some questions," Alexander announced, interrupting their argument. Everyone faced him, silent. "Why are your names just letters?" Alexander asked the girls.

"We're sisters," E pointed out. "We all share a last name, and since most people go by their last names here, it would be pretty confusing, don't you think?"

"You don't look like sisters," Alexander commented.

" _Adopted_ sisters," P clarified, rolling her eyes. "And Laurens is our adopted older brother. But he uses a different name."

"Why?"

"Why do you need to know so bad?" Laurens questioned, glaring at Alex.

"Geez." Alexander raised his arms in defense. "Is that what I sound like?"

"Yes," Laurens, Mulligan, and Lafayette answered together.

"I'm just calling you 'Kid' for now," A said all of a sudden. "I don't know enough about you yet to give you a proper nickname. Although, kids ask a bunch of questions, so I guess it fits."

"Which leads me to my next question," Alexander went on, turning to A. "I've heard you calling people everything but their names, Fluffy and Mouse, for example. What's up with that?"

"It's just something I do," A shrugged. "Laurens is Fluffy, because that's what his hair is. E is Mouse, because she's quiet. P is Magnets, because she kept trying to eat them as a kid. Mulligan...I call him Dumplings 'cause he made them for us one time. And Lafayette is Potatoes; they tried to eat a French fry one time, and it got caught in their throat."

"Oh, well, it's good that they're okay," Alexander mumbled.

"Yeah, seriously, that fry was such a bitch to get out," P grumbled. "I had to take out every little piece in their neck, meticulously clean each one, put them all back, and then they still had to take 36 hours to reboot."

"Wait, _what?_ " Alex cried. P just stared at him as if he was an idiot.

"Laurens told you about your hand, right?"

"Yeah, it's some weird prosthetic or something. What does that have to do with-"

"Alright, shut up, and let me explain properly." Alexander reluctantly closed his mouth. "So, long backstory short, I learned how to make these crazy awesome prosthetics, and also bring people back to life. Don't question it. Laf here ended up being a fully-fledged, badass robot, and the only one of us like that."

"What do you mean, 'one of us'?" Alexander questioned. P groaned.

"You have a fake left hand; E has _two_ fake hands; Mulligan's whole right arm was replaced; A's eyes aren't real, but that's pretty obvious; I had to fix my own left leg below the knee; and Laurens...well, he's hard to explain."

"Explain anyway." Alexander surprised himself by actually being interested.

"Okay-"

"Actually, don't explain that." Laurens butt in.

"Uh...okay..." P glanced at Laurens in disbelief, then addressed Alexander again. "Any more questions?"

"I...I don't think so..." Alexander blinked several times. "That's a lot of information to take in...and none of it should be possible."

"Why do you think that?" E wondered.

"This...I just...all my years of advanced education are telling me that this can't be true. Yet, here I am. Talking to a secret army of people with superpowers."

"Just a heads up, no one cares about your education here," Mulligan said bluntly.

"Well, if you did, you sure wouldn't treat me like that," Alexander grumbled.

"Oh, you really think you're someone special, huh, Schoolboy?" Laurens smirked. A snapped her fingers.

"That's it! Schoolboy!" A cheered.

"Don't tell me you're actually going to call me that," Alexander whined.

"You know I am."

"You really are crazy..." Alexander gaped. _Maybe I did die...this certainly feels like hell._ "I feel sick..." Alexander moaned. "Is there somewhere I can lay down?"

"Do you need some medicine?" E asked. She took a step towards Alexander, and he stepped back.

"No...I just need some space." E frowned.

"I'll take you back to your room, then," Laurens said. Alexander nodded quickly. They walked away, the group murmuring behind them. When Alexander was returned to the room he woke up in, he ran inside, slamming the door before Laurens could follow him in. "Do you need anything?" Laurens asked.

"No," Alexander shouted back at him. "Leave me alone."

"Okay..." Alex heard a few footsteps, then a soft, "Sorry, about...everything..." The footsteps got further away, then faded into silence. Alexander sighed, and slid down the door, sitting with his head in his hands.

 _I have to get out of here..._


	4. Chapter 3: An Attempt at Escape

Later that evening, Laurens was awoken in the middle of a nap, feeling something jabbing into the side of his face. When he opened his eyes, he saw Lafayette staring at him and poking his cheek. Laurens grabbed Lafayette's hand and pushed it away.

"Hi, Laf."

"It is time," Lafayette said. Laurens groaned as he sat up in his bed.

"Is Mulligan up yet?" Laurens yawned. Lafayette shook their head. "Let's go get him, then."

Laurens and Lafayette walked silently down the hall to Mulligan's room. They snuck inside, and Laurens jumped on Mulligan's bed.

" _Jesus Christ!_ " Mulligan shouted, throwing Laurens' laughing body off of him.

"Quiet," Lafayette said softly. "People are still asleep."

"That hurt, man," Laurens complained, ignoring the comment.

"Quiet."

"Well, maybe you shouldn't have jumped on me," Mulligan snapped.

"QUIE-" Lafayette's voice was quite literally muted when Laurens clicked one of the buttons in the back of their head. Laurens and Mulligan snickered as they left the room, leaving Lafayette to fix their voice themselves.

Mulligan and Laurens got earpieces on, and attached small cameras to their shirts (Lafayette didn't need either, because both were in their head). Once they were ready, the three of them parted ways, spreading throughout the headquarters.

When they got to their posts, Mulligan asked through the earpieces, "So...what do you think about the new kid?"

"He asks many questions," Lafayette said. "And he rapidly switches from loud to quiet."

"I think he gets angry when he's scared."

"Like you."

"Changing the subject; what do you think about him, Laurens?" Mulligan waited for an answer, but didn't get one. "Laurens?"

It was then that Laurens realized that he had not been paying attention since Mulligan had first mentioned the new kid. Maybe because he was thinking about how to answer in too much depth.

"What?" Laurens blinked, focusing again. "Oh, um...he can think and react on his feet, so that's good. I honestly...I want him on our team."

"Wait, really?" Mulligan asked in disbelief.

"Yeah. Like I said, he's promising. And he has a story I want to get out of him."

"How do you plan on doing that?" Lafayette wondered.

"Yeah, I mean, he's probably the most stubborn person we've had to deal with," Mulligan said.

"True," Laurens agreed. "I'm surprised he hasn't tried to...escape...yet..." He trailed off, hearing faint footsteps coming from the floor below him. "Oh, Goddammit."

"You hear it, don't you?" Mulligan guessed.

"Yup," Laurens sighed. "What do you see, Laf?"

"It is him," Lafayette confirmed. Laurens groaned softly.

"Okay...where's he going?"

"To your left." Laurens began walking down the hall as quietly as possible, stopping at the top of the stairs. "He is right below you." Laurens lifted himself onto the railing, then slid down to the bottom floor. When he turned around, he met the shocked face of the new boy.

"Uh..." The boy stuttered.

"What'cha doing?" Laurens asked, rocking casually on his heels.

"Um...exploring?"

"Uh-huh...you know the exit is that way, right?" Laurens pointed in the direction opposite of where the boy had been going. The boy looked behind him, then back at Laurens, then he ran. He made it a good four steps before Mulligan stepped out from the shadows in front of him, grabbing him by the arm. The boy struggled for a moment, but gave up on trying to get free when Lafayette appeared as well.

"I'm surprised you didn't assume that we'd have night guards," Laurens said, taking a few steps towards the boy.

"I _hoped_ you didn't," the boy corrected. "I'm not stupid. I also hoped that I wouldn't have to see you again, but look at what else I'm wrong about."

"Why are you so mean to me?" Laurens wondered with a fake frown. The boy glared at him.

"I wonder." The boy yanked his arm out of Mulligan's grasp and stepped away.

"Would you like-"

"Can you, maybe, not talk?" The boy asked, cutting Lafayette off. "Just...everything about you creeps me out." Lafayette closed their mouth after a few seconds.

"Um, okay, rude," Mulligan said.

"Yeah, you can't just say something like that," Laurens added.

"Is this a time that I should feel offended?" Lafayette quietly asked, trying not to be heard by the boy.

"Yes, Laf."

"Why are you so upset?" The boy questioned.

"Because you're an ass."

"If you want me to cooperate with you, you probably shouldn't insult me." The boy crossed his arms confidently.

"If you don't want to be insulted, don't insult us," Laurens countered, just as smug. Just then, a muffled rumble resonated through the room. The boy's face flushed with embarrassment. "What was-"

"You never gave me any food. You're the worst at this recruiting thing."

"You wanted to be left alone. We were respecting your privacy."

"I was about to offer you something to eat, but I am apparently too strange to listen to," Lafayette mentioned.

"Well...uh...maybe..." The boy's mouth snapped shut as his stomach grumbled again.

"Alright," Laurens sighed, "let's go get you something." He grabbed the boy's arm and started pulling him down the hall. If it wasn't so dark in the building, Laurens would have thought the boy's face had gone red. When they got to the mess hall, Laurens opened a cabinet in the back, took out a bag of chips and a water bottle, and placed them on a table in front of the boy. "Here. Food. Eat." The boy hesitantly sat down, sneering at Laurens.

"You're treating me like an animal," the boy stated.

"I'm not used to people not cooperating and arguing with me," Laurens said, sitting across from the boy. Lafayette and Mulligan sat next to him, effectively isolating the boy. He awkwardly opened the bag of chips and ate one. "So," Laurens started, "I assume you still don't want to tell us your name, right?" The boy nodded. "Would you mind talking about your family?"

"My lack of family," the boy corrected. "And, no."

"That's fine," Laurens assured. "What did E 'steal' from you?" The boy froze for a moment.

"Just my phone and wallet."

"That's it?" The boy gulped and nodded. He pushed the food away from himself, looking down. Laurens glanced at Mulligan, suspicious. The latter just shrugged.

"Were you kidnapped, too?" The boy wondered, gaining Laurens' attention back.

"Uhm...not really." The boy stared at him in confusion. "It's...complicated. Mulligan joined about four years ago after witnessing a fight like you did. He was calm about it, though, and agreed to help basically right away. Laf started when they were 13 in France. The past couple generations of their family were in the Union's French Alliance, so they were in automatically."

"What about you?" Laurens stared ahead, debating with himself on whether or not to open up.

"I...I was brought in when I was three. The leader of our division at the time was General Schuyler. He saved my life and adopted me, then did the same with the girls a few years later." Laurens paused. "He died years ago, before P figured out how to bring people back."

"You're an orphan, then," the boy concluded.

"I guess. A lot of us are. The fact that we don't have any true family can push us to fight for the rest of the country, though; for the people who do have others in their lives."

"Or, if we do still have family out there, we fight for them," Mulligan added.

"But, wouldn't you rather see them again, instead of risking your life everyday and spending the rest of your days on Earth here? Wouldn't you rather have a normal life?" Laurens smirked at the boy.

"Of course we would," Laurens answered. "But that's why we haven't given up or left. Because we could be the people who end the war. If we can end it-if we can _win_ -we can live our normal lives. More importantly, no one else will have to do this once it's over."

"How close are you to winning, do you think?"

"Close. We _know_ we're close."

"Close enough that it could be over in your lifetime?"

"Possibly." Laurens thought for a moment, then added, "We just need a little more help." The boy perked up ever-so-slightly.

"You mean...me?"

"Sure." Laurens smiled softly at the boy in front of him, who quickly looked away. He seemed to ponder over his thoughts for a minute before speaking again.

"If...if you really are as close as you say you are," the boy spoke slowly and carefully, leaving no room for misinterpretation, "and you just need a few more people with enough intelligence and skill...that means that, if this is done correctly, you can win, and I can leave, never to see you again, before I die. _If_ I help you wackos." Laurens shared a confirming look with Mulligan and Lafayette.

"Yes."

The boy sighed, shaking his head in disbelief as he grumbled out, "Fine. Might as well just get this over with so I can leave as soon as possible." Laurens' grin widened, having accomplished his goal. "But you have to actually train me next time instead of just throwing me on the ground." Laurens laughed, and thought he saw a faint smile appear on the boy's face, if only for a second.


	5. Chapter 4: Frustrated and Confused

Alexander decided that, for once in his life, he was an idiot.

He had gone back to his room (he wasn't entirely sure why he called it "his"; it wasn't like he lived there) and woken up what felt like a minute later, not remembering going to sleep. A set of new clothes had been hung on the door, so he changed into them. Alexander couldn't decide if it was creepier that someone had come into the room while he was sleeping, or that the clothes fit him perfectly.

He felt like an idiot because he found himself beginning to actually trust these people. He felt like an idiot because he had agreed to help these people. He felt like an idiot because, astonishingly, he was starting to think that some of these people were nice and funny and maybe even kinda ho-

Alex almost laughed at himself. He knew this game. He would like people for petty reasons as soon as he met them, and trust them with everything. His mind, his body, his heart; they would be given away.

Because he's always been an idiot.

Alexander sighed in frustration. He was lying on the bed, staring at the ceiling, hoping to go blind from looking directly at the light above him. Then, he recalled the people with fake eyes he had met and rolled onto his side, knowing his efforts would be in vain.

Someone knocked on the door again. Alexander had ignored the knock when it had sounded a half an hour earlier, wanting to be left alone. He still wanted the privacy now, but knew that that would be useless. He reluctantly stood to open the door, wanting to close it again when he did.

"Great, you're dressed. Come on." Laurens gestured for Alexander to follow him as he turned on his heel and began walking away.

"Good morning to you, too," Alex yawned as he started trailing Laurens through the halls. The two of them got some fruit for breakfast ("Oh good," Alexander had said, "You _do_ know how to feed people."), then they went back out to the training field. Lafayette and Mulligan were already there, and they looked up when Laurens called out to them.

"Okay," Laurens clapped his hands together, turning to Alexander. "Here's the plan: In the next few weeks, we're going to build up your strength and stamina, and figure out what you can do best."

"Sounds exciting," Alexander mumbled.

"You are just a little ball of sunshine, aren't you?"

"Just because I agreed to help you doesn't mean I like you."

"You'll learn to love me." Laurens winked and grinned brightly, and Alex quickly turned to Mulligan and Lafayette.

"Why are you here?" Alexander asked them.

"We're helping," Mulligan stated.

"Why?" Mulligan sighed.

"Is it necessary to ask so many questions?"

"Is it necessary to be so stupid?" Laurens snorted.

"Don't encourage him," Mulligan demanded. Laurens covered his mouth as he laughed.

"I can't...I just...that was perfect," Laurens said through giggles. "I'm sorry, man." Mulligan glared at him. "Yeah, no, I'm not." Laurens screamed with laughter, then with fear as Mulligan ran towards him. Alexander watched Mulligan chase Laurens for a minute, then Laurens ran up to him, grabbed his shoulders, and used him as a shield.

"Hey! Let go of me!" Alexander yelled.

"Sorry, but he-" Laurens turned them both to dodge Mulligan-"hates being laughed at."

"Let me guess: you like to laugh at him."

"Yup." Alexander was extremely uncomfortable with Laurens so close to him, to say the least. Goosebumps rose on the back of his neck where Laurens' breath hit him, and he was stiff under Laurens' tight grasp on his shoulders. And, _God_ , he was _so_ confused.

The chase finally ended when Laf pulled Mulligan backwards by his shirt. Alexander wriggled away from Laurens and huffed.

"I finally agree to help you, and instead of doing any work, you just act like children!" Laurens opened his mouth to speak, but Alexander cut him off. "I don't understand how you're the supposed leader of the supposed best squadron, because you clearly don't know what you're doing." Alex could have-and wanted to-go on, but Laurens' face suddenly darkened into a glare. Mulligan and Lafayette looked away as if they weren't allowed to watch what was about to happen.

"You see that track?" Laurens asked, his voice having shifted into a low, commanding growl. Alex looked over at the running track that surrounded the field and nodded. "Run."

"What?"

"Run. Four laps. Go."

"I didn't mean-"

"You want to be serious?" Laurens took a menacing step forward. "This is serious. _You_ are keeping yourself from working and training, whether you want to believe it or not. Not us. So, from now on, you will do as I say, when I say it. No questions, comments, arguments, or complaints. Am I understood?" Alexander was too stunned by the sudden change in personality to answer. " _Am I understood?_ "

Alexander gulped. "Y-Yes," he replied meekly.

"Yes, _sir_."

"Yes, sir."

"Go run."

"But-"

" _Now!_ " Alexander jumped and hurried away, glaring at Laurens one last time.

* * *

"God, I hate doing that," Laurens sighed as the boy headed to the track. "Laf, start timing him as soon as he steps on that track." Lafayette nodded and began watching the boy. Laurens took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair. "What is with this kid?" Mulligan shrugged.

"He's annoying," Mulligan said. "Asks too many questions."

"He's curious. Confused. That's natural."

"But, even when we give him answers, he's so stubborn about everything."

"He's afraid. He has the right not to trust us."

"You are giving him excuses," Lafayette called out from a couple yards away, slowly turning to keep an eye on the running boy, "yet, you always speak of him as if he makes you upset. As if these excuses are, how you say, 'pointless garbage.'"

"I know they aren't, but...I don't know." Laurens shook his head, angry at his own confusion. "I think I'm upset because, y'know, I was put in charge of him, and-"

"And he hates you?" Mulligan guessed.

"Not exactly. Just that I scared him-on accident and on purpose-but I'm supposed to make him feel comfortable with us."

"Yeah, good job with that, Mr. Bossy-Pants."

Instead of reacting to the nickname, Laurens continued, "I don't even know why I'm acting like this, either. I mean, you know I don't act like that unless it's an emergency."

"You are just frustrated with him," Lafayette said.

"You're telling me..." Laurens mumbled as he watched the boy finish running, then promptly collapse onto the ground.

"7 minutes and 43.56 seconds," Lafayette informed the group. They, Mulligan, and Laurens went up to the boy, who was sprawled out on his back and gasping for air.

"I...did...it," the boy said through deep breaths.

"I can see that," Laurens replied. "You also ran almost a full minute below the lowest time we have here." The boy groaned. "It's okay; you'll get better. You just need to start working with us instead of against us, okay?"

"You're talking to me like I'm a five-year-old," the boy scowled.

"I know."

"I hate you." Laurens smiled faintly.

"I know."


	6. Chapter 5: What Did We Learn?

Alexander may or may not have changed his mind about Laurens being a giant man-child. Sure, he still messed with his friends on an hourly basis, laughed at something every two minutes, and ate pieces of chocolate that had seemingly appeared from thin air, but...

There was still that other side to him. That dangerous, demanding, dominant side that had reared its head and scared the crap out of Alexander. It was gone as fast as it had appeared, but Alex still did his best not to get on Laurens' bad side during the next few days.

Oh, yeah, they trained him for three days straight. To put it simply, it sucked.

To put it less simply, over the three days of training, Laurens taught him how to fight correctly, made him run over a mile a day, and only gave him breaks for food, sleep, and to go to the bathroom.

"While your punch is strong," Laurens had said on the first day, "it could be stronger if you punched the right way."

"What does that mean?" Alexander asked, somewhat offended.

"It means you're punching wrong." Laurens demonstrated a proper hit, pulling back, then shooting his arm forward. He hit the bag so hard that it almost knocked its stand over. He reached out to keep the punching bag from falling into him as he smirked at Alexander, whose mouth was agape.

"4003.4." Lafayette said.

"...Damn..." Alexander mumbled. He blinked in realization of his own thought. _Stop it, Alexander._

"You should see what they can do," Laurens laughed, gesturing to Mulligan and Lafayette. Then, his eyes lit up. "I have an idea: Punch with your left hand," Laurens suggested, grinning.

"But I'm right-handed," Alex reminded him.

"Yeah, but your left hand was...uh...'upgraded', so to speak. So, it should have a little more power, right?"

Alexander had nearly forgotten about his prosthetic hand, and the reminder made his stomach churn a bit. Still, he sighed and said, "Fine." When he punched the bag this time, his shoulder and elbow faltered, since he wasn't used to using his left arm to do things. However, instead of his wrist and knuckles hurting from the impact like usual, something in his fingers cushioned the blow, and something in his wrist pushed his hand and pulled his arm farther forward, making it so that Alexander felt as if he was going to punch through the bag altogether.

"3,009.18." Alexander was so focused on the strange feeling in his hand that he was caught off guard by both the bag hitting his chest again and Laurens' cheer of excitement.

"Alright! That's what I'm talking about!" Laurens shouted. He grabbed Alexander's shoulders and shook him excitedly.

"But...how?" Alex wondered as he examined his hand.

"Ever heard of 'Suspension of Disbelief'?"

"Of course. It's used with literature of the fantasy and science-fiction genres. It basically means that you shouldn't care too much about what doesn't make logical sense, and to remember that it's just a story." Alexander smiled at his own knowledge.

"Uh...yeah. Just do that."

"'Schoolboy' really is a good name for you," Mulligan mumbled, earning a glare from Alexander.

Laurens stepped between the two of them and said, "How about, instead of fighting, you two race on the track? One mile. Go." Alexander had begun running to the track before Laurens could finish speaking. Then, as he sprinted around the second bend, he started losing energy and breath, and Mulligan caught up with him.

"Ever heard of pacing yourself?" Mulligan asked.

"Ever heard of...shutting the fuck up?" Alex countered between breaths. Mulligan huffed out a laugh before running ahead of Alexander.

When Alexander finished his mile, losing the race and barely able to breathe, Laurens stood in front of him and asked, "So, what did you learn today?" Alexander looked up to see Mulligan standing behind Laurens with a smug grin on his face.

"That Mulligan is a stupid piece of-"

"Wrong answer," Laurens stated. "Go again." Alexander scowled at him, but took a deep breath and got back on the track.

* * *

The second day of the three day training streak was focused mostly on shooting, but they sparred a bit as well.

It was the worst day of Alexander's life.

Laurens stood next to Alexander while he held a gun out in front of him. He had just fired at the target and gotten a surprising amount of recoil, pushing him back a couple steps. The bullet he had fired had ended up in the target's side.

"What happened?" Laurens wondered. "You did so well just a few days ago. You didn't even respond to the recoil then."

"I don't know," Alexander shrugged. "I guess I'm just in a different headspace." Laurens frowned.

"Did you think of that person-"

"I'd rather not have to think of them every time I do this."

"Okay, then. I'll show you how to do it properly." Laurens stepped closer and wrapped his hands around Alexander's. "You already know quite a bit about how this works, so you won't have to change much." Heat rushed to Alex's face as Laurens moved his arms into the right positions. "But, your hands need to move up to here...and your elbows need to bend like this...your shoulders stay like this...and you should stand with your feet there..." As Laurens continued to explain, Alexander tried to think of anything he possibly could to keep from showing how bothered he was. "Alright, shoot." Laurens finally let go of Alexander and took step back. Alexander let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding and fired. Straight into the heart. "Good job, Kid," Laurens congratulated, mussing up Alexander's hair. "Come on." Alexander fixed his hair as Laurens led him to the other side of the field.

"This again?" Alexander whined when he saw that they were headed for the sparring area.

"Yup. But I'll go easy on you this time." Alex sighed but got in place. Alexander and Laurens stood a few feet apart, Mulligan and Lafayette once again watching on.

"Ready?" Lafayette called out. Laurens nodded and got into a battle stance. Alexander mimicked his actions. "Start!" Alexander shot forward, noticing Laurens' slight shift in weight just in time to jump over the leg that had kicked out to trip him. When Alex landed back on his feet, Laurens' face showed a small amount of surprise, yet he didn't hesitate to punch Alexander in the gut. The blow didn't hurt as much as Alexander had expected, which meant that Laurens really was going easy on him, but the next thing he knew, he was being pulled into a headlock from behind. Alexander elbowed Laurens in the ribs as hard as he could and managed to spin around, only to be shoved onto his back. Before he could stand again, Laurens pinned him to the ground by holding down his arms and straddling his stomach. His head blocked Alexander's view of the sun, giving him a silhouette of light when Alex looked up at him. He gave a stunning smile when Lafayette announced, "Laurens wins." Alexander's face grew even warmer than it had been before.

 _Fuck_.

Laurens cheered for himself, then looked down at Alexander and said, "You did great. I'm proud of you, honestly." He smiled again, but his expression soon morphed into one of confusion and concern when Alexander didn't respond, but instead lay paralyzed, staring up at him. "Hey, are you okay? I didn't hurt you too bad, did I?"

Alexander could only say, "Please get off of me." Laurens blinked, then hurried to stand, as if he just then remembered that he was sitting on someone in an extremely indecent manner.

"Sorry," Laurens muttered, reaching out to help Alexander up. Alex refused to take his hand, standing on his own, and shoving his hands into his sweatshirt pocket. That sweatshirt-well, really the patch sewn inside of it-was the only thing keeping Alexander sane anymore. Laurens looked just as uncomfortable as he went to speak to Lafayette in a tone that Alexander couldn't hear. Lafayette nodded curtly, then headed to the track. "Okay, Schoolboy," Laurens started. "You're going to run with Laf today. They're going to start a little bit before you, so your challenge is to pass them."

"That's it?"

"It's harder than it sounds."

And it was. Anytime Alexander tried to run around Lafayette, they somehow moved over so that Alex was cut off, not once looking behind them. He had tried to fake them out, but that didn't work, and when he tried to run through the field instead, Laurens yelled at him, telling him not to cheat. So, Alexander ended up just trailing directly behind Lafayette for a lap and a half.

He was close enough behind Lafayette at one point to ask, "Besides the fact that you're a robot, how are you doing this?" Lafayette didn't speak for a moment, staring straight ahead with dull eyes.

"I can hear your footsteps," Lafayette answered. "I follow where the sound goes." Then, without another word, Lafayette sprinted ahead at an impossibly high speed.

When Alexander got to where the others were waiting, Laurens asked again, "What did you learn today?"

"That going against Lafayette is unfair," Alexander replied.

"Wrong answer," Laurens said. "Go again." Alex groaned and rolled his eyes, but started jogging again anyway.

* * *

On the third day, much to Alexander's relief, Mulligan and Lafayette were nowhere to be seen on the training field. However, Laurens had said that they were only going run the entire time, which certainly put a damper on Alexander's mood.

"Today is actually going to be easy," Laurens said. "All you have to do is run around the track three times."

"That's really all I have to do?" Alexander asked in disbelief. Laurens nodded.

"Although, there are some obstacles on the track, so you need to figure out the fastest path to the end. I'll be helping you with that."

"Fastest path to the end," Alex reiterated as he got in position. "Got it."

"Ready?" Laurens asked, standing next to him. Alexander nodded. "Go." Alexander began running, with Laurens jogging through the field to stay close. The run was smooth until the second straight-away, when Laurens called out, "Jump over the hurdle!" Ahead of Alexander was, indeed, a hurdle. It only took up one lane of the track, and Alex could easily go around it and save time. So, he did just that.

Then, he fell flat on his face. Something had hit his legs (a wooden pole), surprising and tripping him. Alex slowly stood to find that Mulligan was standing to the side of the track, the pole in his arms. He had been hiding behind a piece of equipment, and he smirked at Alexander, who sneered and kept running.

When Alexander made it to the second turn, Laurens yelled, "Move to the outside!" Alexander ignored to command. He had been told to finish as fast as he could, but now he was being told to run in the lane that took the longest time? What would that accomplish? There wasn't even anything around this section of the track that someone could pop out from behind-

Alexander tried to gasp in a breath to replace the one that had been knocked out of him. Lafayette had appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, sprinting towards Alex so fast that he didn't have time to react. Lafayette tackled him to the ground and held him there for a moment, all the while showing no emotion. When Alex could finally breathe again, he rose to his feet and kept running, albeit slower than before. Laurens jogged next to him once he got back to where he had started from.

"You knew I wouldn't listen to you, didn't you?" Alexander speculated. "That's why they attacked me."

"First of all, yes," Laurens confirmed. "Second of all, attack is a strong word." Alexander rolled his eyes and ran ahead.

The hurdle had been moved to the other side of the track, and Laurens told him to jump it again. Alexander complied this time, avoiding another hit from Mulligan. When he got to the second turn, Alex preemptively went to run on the outside, but Laurens said to stay on the inside this time. Alexander moved back to where he was just in time to dodge Lafayette. When Alexander came back around, Laurens said, "I'm not helping you this time." On this final lap,the hurdle had switched places again, and Alex had to actually watch for which direction Lafayette was running in. Finally, the three laps were over, and Alexander was given a bottle of water to drink while he rested on the ground. "What did you learn?" Laurens asked after a few minutes. It took Alexander a moment to formulate an answer.

"That you think that everyone should do what you say just because you're the captain." Laurens laughed a bit and shook his head.

"While that might be partially true, that isn't the answer I'm looking for." Laurens snatched Alexander's water bottle away from him, earning the look of a sad puppy. "Don't look at me like that. You know this is what happens when you sass me." Alexander groaned and stood back up. "Just one lap this time. Go." Alex ran again, thinking up another snarky comment while he did. Once he finished, Laurens asked again, "What did you learn?"

"That you can't take even a little bit of sass."

"Wrong answer. Go again."

Alexander ran.

"What did you learn?"

"That this is a school, apparently."

"Wrong answer. Go again."

Alexander ran.

"What did you learn?"

"That you're just as stubborn as I am."

"Wrong. Go again."

Alexander ran.

"What did you learn?"

"That you think over-working people is smart."

"Wrong. Go again."

Alexander ran.

"I've had enough."

"Go again."

Alexander ran.

"I can't do anymore."

"Go again."

Alexander ran.

" _Please_."

" _Go again_."

Alexander ran until he couldn't run anymore. He collapsed onto the dirt, chest heaving and sweat pouring off of him. He couldn't move or breathe or see straight, but one thing was certain: He had learned.

"I've learned to pace myself when possible so I don't lose energy," Alexander finally said as he struggled to take in air.

"Correct," Laurens smirked. "What else?"

"To listen to my surroundings to know where someone is relative to me."

"Correct. What else?"

"That obstacles can be anywhere, and that the path of least resistance might not be the fastest."

"Corre-"

"I also learned that Mulligan's annoying, Lafayette is weird, and that you are a crazy bastard who would rather make someone pass out from exhaustion than hear something you don't like. You think that you have all the control just because you're a captain or whatever." Laurens' expression never changed while Alexander spoke. In fact, if anything, his smile widened. He threw the water bottle back at Alex, who almost dropped it.

"You're done for the day," Laurens said as he started walking away. "Get some rest." Alexander glared at Laurens' back before he did was he told.


	7. Chapter 6: The Calm After the Storm

Laurens loved when it rained. The soft pitter-patter of raindrops sounded like music to his ears, and the feeling of the water on his skin calmed him down after day of stress. This stormy night had managed to arrive with perfect timing, too, because he had certainly had a stressful day. The rain was also helpful in the way that it made most people want to stay inside, allowing Laurens to run the track by himself, as much as he wanted to. Now, however, Laurens just sat on a crate, his mind blank. He sighed contentedly, closing his eyes, enjoying the crisp, cool air and pure darkness.

After about twenty minutes, he finally decided to go back inside and take a shower (he had been running in the rain, after all; he was bound to smell bad). Laurens preferred the rain falling onto him over the water from the shower. It felt different to him. He would rather feel and see and hear the outside world than have to stay put in this bunker anymore. He had spent his entire life here, so of course he was sick of it.

As he walked silently through the building, back to his room, Laurens listened tranquilly to the rain as it pelted the ceiling and walls. When he turned down another hallway, a different sound blended with the storm: crying.

Faint sobs could be heard from inside a room with an unpainted door. This was not unusual to hear, though, especially in a place like this. The Union was an underground army, fighting in a war of sorts. The people involved felt fear, grief, and stress just as much as any soldier would. Besides, this was the new kid's room. So, no, the crying wasn't what made Laurens stop in the middle of the hall, concerned.

The muffled scream did.

Laurens gently rapped on the door, the crying hiccuping when he did so.

"L-Leave me a-alone," the new boy stuttered through his sobs.

"I just want to make sure you're okay," Laurens said softly as to not wake anyone, yet still loud enough for the boy to hear.

"I'm f-fine."

"Are you sure?" There was a long silence after the question.

"...L-Laurens?"

"Yeah?" Silence again.

"...Th-The door's unlocked. You can c-come in." Laurens hesitated, not wanting to invade the boy's privacy. However, his impulse to help was stronger, so he pushed open the door, stepped inside, and closed it again behind him. Laurens instantly pitied the boy when he saw him.

The boy sat on his bed, his knees pulled up to his chest and his back against the wall. His eyes were red and his cheeks were stained with tears, more flowing down like miniature waterfalls. His head was resting on his arms, and when thunder roared, he covered his mouth with the inside of his elbow so the sound of his scream didn't get very far.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Laurens asked, lifting himself onto the other end of the bed.

"J-Just..." The boy sighed shakily. "Stress...memories...storms..."

"Well," John leaned back coolly, "stress and memories are just things you're going to have to deal with all your life. That's all I can really say about that, so what's with the storm thing?" The boy shrugged.

"I've always been a little afraid of them, I guess."

"Do you know why?" The boy answered almost immediately.

"The lightning and thunder are like gunshots." His eyes had gotten a bit wider; his breathing a bit heavier.

"I take it you don't like guns that much, then."

"I'm terrified of them. The only reason I could shoot one-or hold one, for that matter-is because I get angry when I'm scared. Or, I'm so petrified that I need help to calm down. Like, when you-like yesterday."

Laurens hadn't noticed the boy's quick correction of his words, instead focused on his own thoughts. He suddenly felt terrible for forcing this young, small, confused, scared kid into situations that he might be uncomfortable in. Sure, this whole place could be frightening, but they tried their best to keep everyone feeling protected. The only thing that seemed to make this boy feel safe, however, was shoving his hands in his sweatshirt pocket. So, why wasn't he doing that now?

Laurens slowly crawled towards the boy, then sat next to him. He reached out to grab the boy's wrists, but they were harshly pulled away.

"Wh-What are you-"

"Shh...I'm just trying to help you calm down." The boy didn't move away when Laurens took hold of his arms again. He tentatively moved them down and slipped them into the boy's pocket. His rigid body relaxed, but he didn't seem to notice. He was staring straight at Laurens, confused.

"Why...?"

"You always stop freaking out when you do that. How come?" The boy shrugged again, looking as if he was fighting with himself on whether or not to explain.

Eventually, he quietly said, "I've had this sweatshirt for years; I didn't grow very much. My mom made a patch and sewed it into the pocket, mere days before I-before she...died. It's the only thing I have to remember her." Laurens nodded solemnly and politely.

"What does it look like?"

"It's just a heart. Nothing special."

" _You_ think it's special, though. That _makes_ it special." The boy looked down, a tiny smile threatening to appear on his face.

"Y-Yeah...I guess so." His face fell when he asked, "Why are you acting like you care?" Laurens was taken aback.

"I _do_ care," Laurens defended. "And you aren't the only teammate I've had to help calm down in the middle of the night." The boy's dark eyes widened, darting up to meet Laurens'.

" _Teammate_?"

"Well, yeah."

"I've been horrible and stubborn since you first brought me here. You don't even know my name. You can hardly call me your teammate."

"I keep saying it's fine, and it's fine. You've actually done much better than expected."

"Yeah, right," the boy scoffed. He flinched when Laurens lightly placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm serious. You're pretty cool. Even if your name is Schoolboy." The boy's cheeks faintly flushed pink, and he shied away from Laurens' gaze.

"It's not, though," the boy mumbled.

"What is it, then?" Laurens knew the boy wouldn't tell him yet, which was okay. He wanted to get settled first. Still, there was no harm in ask-

"Hamilton." Laurens froze.

"Wh-What?"

"My last name is Hamilton."

"O-Oh...okay, then." Laurens wouldn't admit that he legitimately was not expecting this. "Can I tell the others?"

"You'll kinda have to, right?"

"Only if you let me."

"Sure. Go ahead."

"Alright." Laurens finally took his hand off of the boy's shoulder, reclining back against the wall. " _Hamilton_. I like it."

"Thanks." Hamilton let himself smile. They sat in silence for a few minutes.

Silence.

"Hey, the storm passed." Hamilton looked up at the ceiling, listening.

"So it did." Laurens stood up, heading to the door without saying a word, then turned back around when Hamilton called out, "Wait!"

"Yeah?"

"Can you..." Hamilton nervously chewed his lip, looking everywhere but at Laurens. "Can you stay for a while?" Laurens' face softened into a grin.

"Sure." Laurens went back to where he was, sitting inches away from his new teammate this time. Hamilton stiffened when Laurens' arm wrapped around him. "Relax, kid," Laurens chuckled.

"I'm not a kid," Hamilton grumbled. Still, he leaned into the hug, resting his head on Laurens' chest.

Not too long after, Hamilton had fallen asleep. Laurens delicately laid him down, pulling the blanket over him. As he stood next to the bed, brushing a lock of hair out of Hamilton's closed eyes, a sudden urge to take care of the smaller boy washed over him. He wasn't sure why, but he decided that from then on, that would be exactly what he did.

* * *

Alexander woke up sore from his training the day before. He could barely stand because of the amount of running he had been forced to do, but, somehow, he didn't care all that much anymore. He stretched and yawned, pulling his tangled hair into a loose ponytail. He got changed, wondering when Laurens would come by to start his training.

As if on cue, a quiet knock sounded at the door. When he opened it, though, he was surprised to see E standing there, holding a box of paints and brusthes.

"Oh, uh, hey," Alexander greeted eloquently.

"Good morning!" E smiled sweetly. "Did you sleep well?"

"Um..." Alex thought back to the night before. "Yes."

"That's good. Laurens wants to meet you in the mess hall. You remember where it is, right?"

"Yeah. What's with the paint?" E's eyes lit up as a slight blush creeped onto her face.

"Oh, I was going to paint your door today, if you don't mind." Alexander blinked in surprise. He had noticed that most of the doors were covered in colorful designs, while his was plain silver. He supposed he wouldn't mind a bit of personalization.

"Okay."

"Awesome! What's your favorite color?"

"Green." E closed her eyes in thought for a moment. Alexander took his chance to step out of his room and to the side without seeming impolite. E abruptly snapped her fingers, making him jump.

"I know what I'm doing. You can go now." E set down the box, already taking out the paints she wanted. Alexander turned to leave. "Actually, wait."

"Yeah?"

"It's Hamilton, right?"

"...Yeah."

"Cool." Alex took that as a sign that he could go, so he headed to the mess hall. The room was relatively empty. Laurens had told him that most people woke up around 8 in the morning, while he and a few others got up at six. Speaking of, Alexander spotted Laurens waving him over from a table in the far corner. Alexander hurried over, sitting across from the older boy.

"I see E talked to you," Laurens observed. Alexander nodded.

"How is she so lively this early in the morning?" Alex asked.

"Early?" Laurens smirked. "It's 10:30."

"What?"

"What? Are you surprised by the concept of sleeping in?"

"No...I just...don't do that often."

"Neither do I, but I still slept in a _whole_ half hour this morning." Alexander rolled his eyes and changed the subject.

"You already told her my name, I noticed."

"Yup. I called a meeting and everything."

"You can do that?"

"Of course he can. That's why we're here." Alexander spun around at the sound of a woman's voice. Standing behind him were three people. The first was a young man with black hair that fell onto one side of his head, the other side being shaved. The second was a dark-skinned man with a shaved head and confident stance. The third was the woman who had spoken. She was older than the others, with dark skin and brown, flowing hair.

"Ah, right on time." Laurens stood, and Alexander felt inclined to, as well. "Hamilton, you are currently standing in the presence of all four captains in the New York unit of the Union." Alex subconsciously straightened up, then cowered back when the man with black hair began laughing.

"This is the kid you've been talking about?" The man snickered. "He's so small!" Alexander glared at him and blushed.

"He's just as good as you are, Lee," Laurens stated, shutting the man up. "And we all know that small can be useful during certain missions." He winked at Alexander, making his face redden even more. "Fellow Captains, this is Hamilton. I'll tell you more about him later. First, introductions." Alex was astonished by how professional Laurens could sound sometimes. "In order of ranking after me: Lee, the leader of Squadron Red." He nodded at the man who had made fun of Alexander before. "He's kind of a jerk, as you can see." Lee scowled as Laurens moved on to the second man. "This is Burr, leader of Squadron Blue." Burr gave a quick nod, a kind smile on his face. "He doesn't talk much. Finally, Sampson," Laurens gestured to the woman. "Captain of Squadron White. She's pretty cool." Sampson gave a small bow.

"Um, hello." Alexander waved awkwardly.

"I figured I might as well let you meet them in case you end up getting transferred to a different squad," Laurens shrugged.

"If he really does as well as you keep saying," Sampson said, "then I doubt he will be."

"I hope he does," Lee mumbled.

"How much have you been told about me?" Alex asked.

"Just that you're good," Sampson answered.

"Supposedly." Sampson reached across Burr to slap Lee on the arm. Burr stepped forward to keep them separated.

"Hamilton, tell us about yourself," Burr suggested.

"Uh...I'm 19, have no family, and _used to_ go to college. That's about it." Burr quirked an eyebrow.

"King's college?"

"Yeah."

"Me, too."

"Cool." Lee suddenly yawned, sounding purposely overexaggerated.

"Is there something you wanted to say, Lee?" Laurens asked, exasperated.

"This kid is lame." Alexander gasped at his bluntness.

" _Hey_! I-"

"Hamilton." Alexander clamped his mouth shut when Laurens lifted his hand. "You can go. I won't train you today."

"But-"

"Go." Laurens didn't sound angry, but Alexander decided not to test him and leave the captains in the room.

Then, he hid behind a wall to listen in to their conversation.

"He's a feisty one, isn't he?" Sampson laughed.

"When provoked," Laurens responded.

"It's not my fault he doesn't sound that great," Lee argued. "And you never said _why_ he's 'good', just that he is."

"Lee isn't entirely wrong, Laurens," Burr said. "Your description of him _was_ vague."

"Alright, alright," Laurens sighed. "Here's what you need to know: His IQ is one point below mine, he can think on his feet and react impeccably to obstacles, and he can plan accordingly for certain situations."

"Hamilton is smart, so what?" Lee grumbled. Alexander could barely keep from running back in there to fight him.

"Hamilton isn't just _smart_. He's _skilled_. He lasted a whole lot longer than you first could in a spar against me. Hell, he fought a _Third_ and made it out with hardly a scratch. He can shoot with near perfect aim, dodge a blow almost every time, his punch is incredibly strong-not including his prosthetic-and his speed is steadily getting better. Not only that, but he knows when and how to speak up and/or fight and when to keep quiet and/or hide. Hamilton is good. _Really_ good." Sampson whistled while Lee scoffed.

"Yeah, right. No way a new kid can control himself that much."

"You want to bet on that?"

"Sure."

"You sound confident."

"I am."

"Yeah, well, I'm going to guess that your pride is clouding your senses right now."

"Why's that?"

"...You do know that Hamilton has been eavesdropping behind that wall the whole time, right?" Alexander (and he thought he heard Lee, as well) sucked in a breath of shock. Once again, Laurens proved to be better than he thought. "Hamilton. Show yourself." Alexander shyly stepped into view, catching a second-long look of disbelief on Lee's face, though it quickly shifted into frustration. "I had dismissed you, correct?" Alex nodded. "Did you stay to prove yourself or to hear your ego get stroked?"

"N-Neither. I just wanted to-" Laurens cut him off.

"It's fine. Go on, explore. Talk to people. But don't try to escape this time; we do have guards."

"Right. Okay. Sorry, Sir." Alexander would have left then, if it weren't for Laurens' glare pinning him down.

"Don't call me that."

"But, you-"

"No. Don't. Just go." Alexander hurried down the hall, stopping only a few feet away from where he had been before when Lee spoke again.

"Have you noticed how much he looks at you and blushes when you talk? Haven't you told him the 'rule' yet?"

 _The "rule"?_

Laurens didn't respond for a long time, the air filling with an oddly tense silence that Alexander did not quite understand.

" _Hamilton_. _Leave._ "

Alexander left, taking that as a warning more than a command.

* * *

Alexander had been wandering around for about five minutes when a loud _bang_ erupted from behind the door across the hall. The door was covered in stars; most were yellow, but some were striped like the French flag.

After the aforementioned small explosion, a girl's voice shouted, " _Shit!_ " This was followed by a long bout of grumbles, hurried footsteps, and clangs of metal, then the door burst open and P's head popped out. She wore weighty goggles and an apron that was covered with just as much ash and grease as her body was. As soon as she laid eyes on the surprised and slightly frightened Alexander, she muttered, "You'll do," then grabbed his arm and yanked him into the room, the door slamming behind them.

"Uhm...hey, P," Alexander said, looking around. The room was one of the largest he had been in, and appeared to be a workshop of sorts. A desk was against one wall, covered in books, pencils, scraps of metal, screwdrivers, handsaws, welding tools, and various other tools. On the other side of the room was a curtain-covered doorway, to what Alexander assumed was P's room. Against the far wall was a metal table, on which was..."Lafayette?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're confused," P noticed, not sounding like she cared. "That's great. Now help me." P shoved a pile of tools into Alex's hands. "Oh, and watch your step."

"Why do- _ah_!" Alexander leapt backwards as two silver spiders, about the size of his palm, scuttled past on the ground in front of him. "What the hell?" He cried as P burst into a fit of giggles.

"Those are what I call S.S.P.P.I.I.S."

"Spies?"

"Semi-Sentient, Pre-Programmed, Intelligent Inscect Servants. They can do basically any small task I want them to do. I tried to make the acronym S.P.I.D.E.R.s, but-" Another explosion sounded, but this time Alex could see that it had come from Lafayette. Their body jolted as sparks flew from inside an open panel in the side their neck. A flame had lit within the tangle of wires. " _Dammit_!" P slurred together a colorful string of swears as she ran to the table to try to keep anything worse from happening. Alexander peered over her shoulder as she looked into the problematic area. She had managed to put out the fire, but was now mumbling something about "new wires" and "why were they in the rain" and "Hansel? Hamlet? Hamil-Hamilton!"

"Yes?"

"Screwdriver." Alexander glanced down at the tools he was holding.

"What kind?"

"Flathead."

"Got it." Alex handed her the correct one, then watched as she set to work. He gave P whatever she needed when she asked for it, and in a matter of minutes Lafayette seemed just about fixed.

"Buddy!" P called out. Instantaneously, one of the spiders came running, climbing up the leg of the table and stopping next to P's outstretched hand. "In the center-back region of Lafayette's neck, the right-most screw needs replacing. Can you handle it?" The bug flashed yellow, taking the screw from her. It pushed itself into Lafayette's neck, disappearing in the wires.

"This is crazy..." Alexander whispered.

"People _do_ call me a mad scientist."

"How long did it take you to figure out all this?"

"Up to the point I'm at now?" P shrugged. "About a decade."

"How old are you?"

"17."

" _17_?" Alex gaped. "Wha-but- _how_?"

"I don't know. I'm just smart, I guess."

"How long did-" A _beep_ cut the boy off. A second later, the spider-"Buddy", as it had been called-crawled back out of Lafayette.

"Thank you, Buddy," P said, patting the bug gently. "You can go, now." The spider scurried away while P closed the neck panel and clicked a button on the back of Lafayette's head. A faint buzz emitted from the android as P stopped back, her work done. She turned to Alexander with an expectant look on his face. "You can go, too, you know."

"Oh, yeah, okay." Alex headed to the door.

"Thanks for the help, by the way."

"Of course." The door opened, he walked out, then it closed again behind him.

Alexander meandered around the facility for a while, nothing interesting catching his eye. He saw a large clock on a wall that read 1 o'clock, and it was then he realized that he hadn't yet eaten. He decided to head back down to the mess hall to check if Laurens and the other captains were still there. He stopped, though, when he saw E still painting his door.

At least, he assumed it was his. Instead of the plain, dull silver from before, the entire door had been painted over with a crisp, pine green. Golden swirls and curves flowed elegantly over it all, each seeming to have a mind of its own. At the bottom, connected to the last curl, E was painting a realistic, shimmering, gold quill.

"Woah..." Alexander gasped. E turned to him with a small smile.

"Do you like it?" E wondered.

"It's amazing." After a few more strokes, E stood, blowing her hair out of her face.

"I think it's done." E reached down to the brush in her hand and-Alexander went doe-eyed and slack-jawed when E pulled a paintbrush out of the plug where her index finger had once been. She dropped the brush into the box at her feet, took her detached finger out of her pocket, then pushed it back into her hand. It clicked into place and bent at each joint once, as if recalibrating. "It's rude to stare," E smirked, snapping Alex out of his daze.

"Sorry, I just-" E laughed airily.

"It's alright. I'm sure, if you want, P would do this for you."

"No, I-I think I'll be fine." E laughed again as she gathered her things and stood close to him. Her face relaxed into a gentle smile, her chocolate brown eyes searching his own.

"How are you, Hamilton?"

"I'm fine."

"Be honest with me."

"I am." E raised an eyebrow, making Alexander reword his answer. "I'm better than when I was first brought here."

"Hm...okay. But if you need to talk, come find me or Laurens."

"Okay." E patted his back as she left, then Alexander headed in the opposite direction. On his way back to the mess hall, he thought about how E unintentionally knew more about him than anyone else. After all, she had taken away his... Alexander shook the thoughts out of his head. Now was not the time.

A good amount of people were in the mess hall this time, none of which were the newly met captains. Laurens was still there, however, sitting in the same table he had been at earlier in the day. Only, this time, he didn't look nearly as well. His face was flushed, his eyes tightly shut. His hands were folded underneath his chin, and his legs bounced rapidly under the table. Alex couldn't tell if he was mad, scared, worried, or some combination of the three.

Alexander quietly went up to the older boy, saying, "Laurens?" As soon as he spoke, Laurens' eyes shot open and his face somehow went even paler than it already was at the sight of Alexander. "Are you-"

"Not right now, Hamilton," Laurens muttered, his voice at a dangerously low octave.

"I just-"

" _Not now, Hamilton_." Alexander gulped and stayed put while Laurens stormed away without so much as a glance at him.


	8. Chapter 7: Close and Personal

_**Meanwhile...**_

As soon as Lee had pointed it out, it become obvious. Suddenly, every interaction he had had with Hamilton flashed in Laurens' mind. Every blush; every quick turn away; every smile that was hastily suppressed. Each wide-eyed stare that was always accompanied by slightly parted lips was a sure tell that Laurens had missed. He had seen them all before; why not now?

Lee was still looking at him expectantly. Hamilton was still listening.

" _Hamilton. Leave._ " Laurens heard soft footsteps hurry down the hall until they disappeared completely.

"You _have_ noticed it, right?" Lee asked. Laurens nodded in exasperation. "Have you told him the rule yet?" Lee repeated. "Have you told him _any_ of the rules yet?"

"No," Laurens sighed, "and they're all the same rule."

"Yeah: Don't get close and personal. Yet..."

"It's not like I was asking him to like me."

"You winked at him."

"I wink at everyone."

"Are you saying that you like him, too?"

"Excuse me?"

"You're defending him a whole lot. You've already broken the rule, too."

"It's not my fault the girls and I were adopted."

"Why do you still call them your sisters, then?"

"It's how I was raised."

"Bullshit. You were already ten when they were brought here."

"Fine. But, how do you counter someone like Lafayette? Their whole family lineage is based in the Union."

"That stupid robot doesn't count."

"'That stupid robot' is our best soldier."

"Just because P built him to be."

" _They_ were still a better fighter than you before they were remade. Hence why we brought them here."

" _He_ couldn't even escape from a few Thirds."

" _They died_ to help us. Give them some respect."

"Don't tell me that you're going to start using that excuse anytime someone questions you-"

 _Screech_.

Laurens and Lee flinched when Sampson whipped out a dagger and scratched it against the metal table.

"Alright, boys," Sampson bellowed, her voice deep and guttural. "That's enough out of you." She spun her dagger between her fingers. "You would think you are two girls going through puberty, because it seems like your hormones are going crazy."

"You've been working together for just about seven years," Burr added, "but all you do is argue. Correct me if I'm wrong, but neither of you are a Third, so why are you fighting each other?"

"Because I won't tolerate this chovanistic asshole accusing someone in my squadron of indecency." Laurens barely held himself back from shouting. "Especially since he doesn't exactly have a clean record." Lee scowled at him.

"I was new," Lee countered.

"Why not give Hamilton the same excuse?"

"Because you're fawning over his 'amazing skills'-"

"No, I'm not-"

" _Boys_." The mess hall went silent at Sampson's yell, the people on the other side of the room even having heard her. "I repeat: you are acting like _children_."

Lee huffed, "I am expressing my concern-"

"Did I say you could talk again?"

"Hey, you are below me-"

"When have I ever given a shit?" Lee shut his mouth. "Besides, you aren't even the highest up; Laurens is. You're just jealous." Laurens smirked as Lee tried to speak again.

"No, I'm-"

"Yes, you are," Burr said, as calm as ever. "And, Laurens, don't get too proud of yourself." Laurens stopped smiling. "Sampson and I have talked about this before. Whether you want to believe it or not, you're both hungry for power. Lee, you want to have Laurens' position so you can have more control over the agency. You're upset that Laurens is so high up even though he's younger than you. Laurens, we believe the position you have is going to your head. We're afraid you're developing a bit of a god complex."

"I'm not controlling," Laurens scoffed. The three other captains each raised an eyebrow. "Okay, maybe a little bit, but it's my job to be in charge."

"When the situation permits. Otherwise, what you call leadership can easily become plain bossiness."

Lee nodded. "Yeah, see-"

"Shut it," Sampson snapped. "We can't have you two acting like this. It isn't what the Union stands for."

"So," Laurens concluded, "what we figured out today is that Lee is jealous of me-which was obvious, by the way-and that there's a chance that I have more command than I know what to do with."

"And, that Hamilton likes you," Burr added.

"And, that Hamilton likes me." Laurens groaned and massaged his temples. "Great."

"You have to tell him," Sampson said. "You have to tell him _soon_. This can't go any further."

"Yeah, I know."

"Good. Are we done here?"

"Uh, yeah. Dismissed." The other three captains filed out of the room, but Laurens stayed, collapsing into a chair. He let out a breath of exhaustion, thinking that he should have probably slept in longer than a half hour that morning.

Laurens was fighting with himself. His fellow captains had been right about a lot of things that day, but him falling for Hamilton was _not_ one of them. He knew how bad a relationship like that could be, especially in an environment like this, where focus was key. A soldier has to keep his guard up. A soldier cannot let himself be tempted or persuaded or distracted. A soldier cannot let his opinion be swayed by someone who has taken control of his mind. A soldier cannot waste precious time thinking about something as stupid as "love". Any figment of an idea of romance or fraction of a hope for love should be shot down before the spark can light into a flame.

Still, while Laurens knew he didn't feel that way about Hamilton, the strange urge to take care of the boy had returned from the night before. So, after some thought, Laurens made his decision:

He wouldn't tell Hamilton the rule. He _couldn't_ tell him. As much as he knew he should, he just couldn't. And, hey, maybe Hamilton doesn't even like him. If he did, would he even show his affections, anyway? If so...well, that was just a possibility. A possibility in a sea of possibilities. Hamilton confessing his emotions was just as likely as Laurens dying next week. Both situations terrified Laurens, but he could handle either if they happened. Laurens liked "if".

Laurens didn't realize how long he had been sitting there thinking until quiet footsteps crept up behind him.

"Laurens?" Laurens' eyes opened wide as soon as his name was called. Hamilton. "Are you-"

"Not right now, Hamilton," Laurens muttered, trying to end to conversation as fast as he could. _Don't let anything happen. Don't let anything happen._

"I just-"

" _Not now, Hamilton._ " Laurens stood and hurried away. It's hard to figure out how to deal with someone when they're standing right in front of you.

* * *

 **Alright, so, this chapter is short and not that interesting, but it's important for many reasons. The next chapter will be considerably more exciting.**


	9. Chapter 8: Risky Business

_**Ten days later...**_

Alexander was told by Laurens to eat and go to sleep by six, but he wasn't told why. He assumed it was because Laurens wanted to train him in a different way, but what else could be done? For over a week, Alexander had been put through every exercise he could think of and more. Although it was excruciating, Alex was determined to prove himself. It was something he really wanted to do and he didn't know why.

Alexander was awoken suddenly by getting shocked in the face. He jolted awake, swiping at his tingling cheek. Sweet laughter rang out from above him, the voice unmistakably belonging to Laurens.

"What the hell?" Alexander cried, sitting up and rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Laurens, Mulligan, and Lafayette stood next to his bed, the former two laughing while the latter stood with a blank face and a small blue spark coming from one of their fingers. All three of them wore all black, except Laurens had a thick, blue stripe going diagonally across his shirt. Alexander recognized these outfits from the night he had been taken.

"Laurens told me to wake you up," Lafayette said. Alexander glared at Laurens, who simply smirked in return.

"Hey, I needed to make sure you were actually awake," Laurens defended.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. What do you want?" Alex asked. He realized then that lights were still out. "And, what time is it?"

"1:30 in the morning. Get dressed." Laurens tossed a set of clothes to Alexander.

"Wh-What? Why are you waking me up this early?"

"We're going out."

"Where?"

"Somewhere in the city. Hurry up." Without another word, Laurens and his teammates left. Alexander sighed and rolled his eyes, before standing and changing.

The new outfit he had gotten was entirely black, much like what Lafayette and Mulligan had been wearing. The shirt was long sleeved but breathable and form-fitting but not tight. In the inside of the left sleeve was a star-shaped patch. The pants were covered in pockets, yet he could move in them quickly and quietly. He had been given new running shoes when he first got there, so he put them on. Lastly, Alex tied his hair into a low ponytail as he stepped out of his room. Laurens was still standing there, his hands in his pockets, and he looked up when Alexander opened the door. He looked Alexander over once, then smiled and turned to begin walking down the hall. Alexander followed him, still confused.

"So, what's-"

"Quiet," Laurens hissed. "It's the middle of the night, remember?"

"Yeah, what's happening in the middle of the night?"

"We're proving someone wrong and breaking a record at the same time."

"Sounds like my kind of thing."

"I think so, too." Laurens led Alexander down a hallway he hadn't seen before. He pushed open a large door, and a brand new side of the facility was revealed.

Although it it was the middle of the night, the entire hallway was filled with people. Some would walk into rooms, then reemerge with weapons or small pieces of equipment. In one corner, P was giving Lafayette a check up. A was rushing around with a tablet, tapping it as she looked at what was being loaded into boxes and talked to people.

"What is this place?" Alexander wondered, having to dodge all the moving people as he trailed behind Laurens.

"This," Laurens explained, "is our prep hall. It's where our preparations take place."

"I figured that out. Preparations for what?"

"For missions."

"Missions?"

"When we try to stop the Thirds from doing something problematic."

"Wait, like, what you were trying to do when you took me? When I got shot?"

"You got in the way; it's not my fault a Third shot you. But, yes, that."

"Why are you making me go?"

"Like I said, we're proving someone wrong and breaking a record. Come here." Laurens went into a room to the right that was filled with boxes. He reached into one of the crates and pulled out a tool belt with several pouches and a gun holster on it. He tossed it to Alexander before getting another one for himself.

The he belt was meant to be stepped into, as it had loops for the legs along with the waist. Although the design was simple, Alex had some trouble putting it on. Laurens watched him struggle for a moment, snickering.

"Well, could you help me, at least?" Alexander asked, glaring.

"Nope," Laurens stated. "Figure it out."

"Wha- _ugh_." Alexander just rolled his eyes as he continued to work out how to put the damn belt on. Eventually, Alex got it around his waist correctly, and Laurens sarcastically applauded when he did. "Shut up, asshole."

"Keep insulting me," Laurens said, "that's smart."

"Was that a threat?"

"No." Laurens left the room and headed for another, but Alex froze for a moment when he stepped through the doorway. The room was large and the walls were covered in all kinds of weapons. Shelves lined the corners from floor to ceiling, holding dozens of boxes of ammunition. Alexander's hand subconsciously flew to his pocket, only to find that it wasn't there. "You okay?" Alexander looked at Laurens with wide eyes.

"Uh..." Alexander cleared his throat. "I'm fine."

"Good. Here." Laurens held out a pistol to Alexander, who took a deep breath and took it. "Okay, here's what you need to do," Laurens explained as he picked out two more guns. "First, check to make sure it's loaded. It should be, but check anyway." Alexander did as he was told as Laurens did the same. "Good?"

"Yeah."

"Now raise your weapon to make sure it isn't to heavy."

"This sounds scripted."

"It is. Just do it." Alex lifted his gun and thought about how it felt in his hands. It felt fine weight-wise, but mentally it felt terrible. What was worse was the looming realization that he might actually have to shoot someone-"Hamilton?"

"What?"

"I told you to put your gun in your holster."

"Oh." Alexander lowered the weapon after realizing it was still pointed at ahead at Laurens. They both put extra ammo in their belts before moving on.

"Next step is equipment." The boys walked across the hall into yet another box-filled room. There, Laurens gave Alexander a flashlight, small medical supplies and tools, and an earpiece and microphone. Once again, Laurens refused to help Alexander put things on, merely making sure they were on correctly. Finally, Alexander was handed two small syringes of a strange liquid.

"What are these?"

"Tranquilizers."

"Why would I need-"

"How did we get you here?"

"Right." Just as they finished getting ready, a whistle was blown from down the hall.

"That's us. Let's go." Alexander and Laurens went into the hall, where a line of people was forming. 20 men and women stood shoulder to shoulder, some fidgeting or whispering. "Do you see Mulligan at the end?" Laurens asked. Alexander nodded. "Go stand next to him." Alex hurried over, walking behind everyone as to not be seen. Mulligan and Lafayette stood at the end with a space between them. Alexander assumed he had to stand there, so he did.

"Are you excited?" Mulligan asked once Alexander was in his place. Alexander was about to say no when Mulligan continued, "You should be."

"Why?" Alexander wondered.

"You're breaking my record."

"What is it?"

"The soonest a new guy gets to go on a mission. I went in at four weeks; you're only at two."

"Oh, cool. I always knew I was better than you." Mulligan just rolled his eyes.

"Attention!" The entire hall went silent at the sound of Laurens' voice. Alexander turned forward to see Laurens, A, and P standing next to each other, facing the line of people. "Roll call!" Alex waited for names to be called, but never heard any. He could see A's mouth moving as she tapped on her tablet, and someone in the line would shout "Here" every few seconds, but Alexander didn't understand how they knew when to-

"Schoolboy?" A's voice was in Alexander's head. He jumped in surprise and heard A laughing at him. "This is how we test the earpieces. It's nice to know yours works."

P stepped forward next, now holding a cardboard box. She set it on the floor and gently tipped it over. More than a dozen of her S.S.P.P.I.I.S. crawled out, and each one ran to one of the people in line. Alexander did what the others did, reaching down and picking up the spider. He saw Mulligan and Lafayette press the top of their bugs them in their belt pouches, so Alex did the same, the yellow light on top of the robot going out.

"I swear," P yelled, "if one of them breaks again, I won't help you the next time you get hurt."

"After that _wonderful_ pep talk..." Laurens laughed, rolling his eyes. "Squadron Black, this mission _should be_ a simple in-and-out. All we have to do is prevent some supplies from being delivered. Of course, this will be dangerous, otherwise we wouldn't have been told to do this. Keep in mind, something could go wrong or someone could get in the way," Laurens glanced at Alexander, "so be prepared for anything. Now, are you ready?"

The squadron shouted in unison, "Yes, Sir!"

"Alright. A?" A pressed on her tablet, and the wall behind her began to move upward. As it turned out, it was not a wall, but an enormous garage door. As the lights in this garage turned on, Alexander could see that it held all kinds of cars, trucks, trailers, and even an entire airplane. "Pretty dramatic, huh?" Alexander nearly screamed when Laurens suddenly appeared next to him.

"Yeah," Alexander agreed. "This place is way bigger than I thought." Laurens just smiled as he moved forward, leading his squad into the garage. They headed for an unmarked semi and Laurens opened up the back of it. He climbed inside, then Lafayette and Mulligan did, as well. While Laurens disappeared into the dark of the trailer, Mulligan and Lafayette bent down and started helping people up.

Alex just watched on in confusion until Mulligan called out, "Hamilton. Stop staring and get up here." Alexander blinked before reaching up and taking Mulligan's hand, letting himself get pulled up into the truck. As soon as he was in the trailer, the door was closed behind him, and he was engulfed in darkness.

Then, the lights were turned on. He was not in an average semi trailer. The fact that there were lights should have tipped him off. Lining the inside walls was a long, metal bench, on which sat the members of Squadron Black. Under the bench were more boxes, most likely filled with more supplies. Covering much of the far wall was a dark screen.

Alexander sat next to Lafayette, with Mulligan sitting across from him. Laurens was still in front of the screen, though he now walked down the middle, counting off the members of his team.

"21," Laurens muttered when he looked at Alexander and sat next to Mulligan. "We're all here," Laurens said into his microphone. "Let's go." He focused on Alex again. "Brace yourself."

"Why-" If not for Lafayette grabbing his arm, Alexander would have fallen off the bench when the truck lurched forward abruptly.

All at once, everyone but Alex shouted, "Dammit, Meade, learn how to drive."

They all laughed as someone said "Sorry" through the earpieces.

"Is that a tradition or something?" Alexander asked Laurens quietly.

"It's a tradition _and_ something," Laurens answered. "Meade always starts the truck like that, and we always get pissed at him."

"Makes sense." Laurens nodded.

"So, this is your first mission. How do you feel?"

"Nervous, honestly."

"Relatable. Any questions?"

"Always. I figured out what record I'm breaking," Alexander earned a glare from Mulligan, "but who am I proving wrong?"

"Oh, you'll be happy about this: _Lee_." Alexander's eyebrows shot up in excitement.

"Really?"

"Yup. He thought you wouldn't be suitable for a mission."

"Why not?"

"Um," Laurens rubbed the back of his neck and glanced away. "A lot of reasons. But I think you'll be fine." Alexander stared at Laurens suspiciously. He sounded like he was hiding something. Alex was about to speak again when Meade interrupted him.

"We're halfway there, Sir."

"Thank you, Meade," Laurens said.

"Sir?" Alexander repeated. "The last time I called you that, you told me _not_ to. Why do they have to call you that?"

"It's...complicated..."

"How-"

"Alright, everyone," A's voice rang out as the screen in the front turned on, glowing blue. "Here's the deal: we have drones above the drop point, and you'll see their feeds...now." Four different camera angles appeared on the screen, each showing the tops of different buildings. "There are three lookouts on these three buildings, and two people walking around this building here." The screen zoomed in on the people A talked about. "It's 2:20 now. The delivery should happen sometime between 3 and 4. I'll let you do your thing."

"Thank you, A." Laurens stood, then nearly fell forward when the truck stopped suddenly. "Goddamnit, Meade." All at once, the trailer went dark. Then, the door opened, and Laurens led his squadron outside. They were behind a tall building in a nondescript area of the city. Once everyone had left the truck, the vehicle sped away.

Alexander turned to Lafayette, wondering, "Where's the truck going?"

"A few streets away," Lafayette said. "We could be spotted otherwise." Alexander nodded as the group made its way to the next building over, staying close to the walls. From where he was, he could clearly see two of the lookouts on top of two buildings less than a block away. When they stopped, Alex caught up to Laurens and Mulligan.

"They usually don't have this many guards for something like this," Mulligan was saying.

"That's why we brought the whole squad this time," Laurens replied.

"Why are we just standing here?" Alexander asked, surprising Laurens.

"We're waiting for the supplies to get here."

"...Why?"

"To keep the Thirds from getting them. I assumed you knew that."

"Why don't we take out the guards now?"

"As soon as we go for one, the others will know that we're here. The delivery will be stopped and their back up will be called."

"Listen, Hamilton," Laurens sighed frustrated. "I get that you're new and confused, but now is not the time to be questioning me." Alexander was quiet for a little while.

"Once again, you say you're a captain, yet your ideas are dumb."

"You know what, Hamilton?" Laurens scowled. Alexander had nearly forgotten how quickly he could become angry. "If you want to use your plan so much, then go ahead. Get all of us caught or killed just to prove your damn point."

Alexamder huffed and held his clenched fists at his sides. He was just trying to help by pointing out how much easier this could be. He looked back up at the Thirds' lookouts. The one closest to him was behind the other two, therefore, if he could be taken down fast enough, the other Thirds wouldn't even notice. Alexander glanced over at Laurens, who was talking to Mulligan again, and made up his mind.

If Laurens wanted him to be in the Union so badly, then Alexander would be in the Union. _On his own terms._

Good thing he had been forced to train so much.

Alexander bolted, heading straight for the building the Third was on. He heard Laurens calling his name through his earpiece, but he kept running.

"You have two options, Laurens," Alexander stated.

"Fucking hell..." Laurens named off his teammates, telling them to split up. When Alex smirked when he heard footsteps growing louder behind him. "What the fuck, Hamilton?" Laurens muttered, appearing next to Alexander.

"I promise this will work." Without warning, Alexander turned down an alleyway. At the end of the alley stood an old dumpster. The boy ran to it and climbed on top of it as quietly as he could. He jumped up, taking hold of the windowsill above him. They were lucky the buildings were abandoned, or someone might see him, thinking he was trying to break in.

"A lot is riding on your impulsiveness, right now, kid," Mulligan said as he, Lafayette, and Laurens trailed Alexander, who just scoffed. The four of them scaled the building, jumping from window to balcony to window, silent all the while. When they made it to the top, they sat on windowsills, waiting for the time to be right.

This is was the first moment that Alexander realized just how high up he was.

The four of them climbed over the edge of the roof, then hurried to hide behind a large vent. Like cartoon characters, they peeked around the metal box to get a clear view of the Third. Laurens caught Alex's attention, counting down on his fingers. _3...2...1._

They shot out towards the Third, catching him off guard. Before he could shoot his weapon, the Third was thrown to the ground by Laurens. At once, Mulligan pulled the rifle away and Lafayette short circuited the equipment on the Third's chest.

"Hamilton," Laurens whisper-yelled, focusing on holding down the struggling Third below him. "Tranq him." Alexander nodded, hurriedly stepping forward and taking one of the syringes out of his pocket. He opened it and held it up to the Third's throat. He gently stuck the syringe into a vein, and within moments, the man was unconscious. At around the same time, others from the squadron told of their successes. Each of the Thirds had been taken down, and not one of them had gotten the word out to stop the delivery. Both Laurens' and Alex's eyes widened slowly, but for completely different reasons.

"Oh, what was that?" Alexander asked as Laurens sighed. "I'm sorry, I think I misheard. Did you hear that correctly, Laurens?" Laurens nodded, exasperated. "Well, could you please enlighten me on what was said?" Lafayette and Mulligan watched on in confusion while Alexander smirked and Laurens rolled his eyes. Laurens mumbled something unintelligible. Alex mockingly put a hand up to his ear. "What? Can you repeat that?" Laurens groaned.

"You were right," Laurens said quietly. Alexander gasped dramatically.

"I was right? Really?"

"Shut up."

"No, I think-"

"Shut. Up."

You can't just shut me up because you know I'm right-" Laurens clamped his hand over Alexander's mouth.

"Get down," Laurens whispered into Alexander's ear. "Don't make any noise." Alexander slowly lowered until he was kneeling on the roof. Below them, a large truck slowed and stopped in front of a building. A couple Thirds hopped out, but were quickly ambushed by the members of the Union. After less than a minute of fighting, the Union cheered. The delivery had been intercepted successfully. "Let's get down there." Laurens smiled, standing up.

The four of them made their way down the side of the building and into the street. The squadron made way for their leader, and let Alexander, Mulligan, and Lafayette move to the front of the group. Laurens took some tools out of his belt to unlock the back door of the truck. He cautiously climbed inside, shining a flashlight on the numerous crates he found. He opened one, his eyes widening when he did so. Laurens jumped out, instructing his squadron to get ready to go back to headquarters.

"What's in there?" Alex asked Laurens.

"Well," Laurens sighed, "that truck is filled to the brim with explosives."

"What?" Alexander gasped. "Why would they need that many explosives?"

"That's a good question."

* * *

As soon as they got back to headquarters, Laurens' squadron was met by A, E, and P. Then, General Washington appeared, yelling, "Hamilton!" The boy turned to face the approaching man.

"Yes, Sir?" Alexander nervously responded.

"That was incredibly risky, what you just pulled," Washington growled in Alexander's face.

"I-I know. I apologize."

"You almost put the entire squadron in danger-"

"He was right." Laurens stepped forward, cutting off the general.

"What?"

"Hamilton had a plan that I didn't agree with. Turns out his plan worked far better than expected. He knew what he was doing, Sir. He shouldn't be punished." Washington looked between the two boys.

"Laurens, I think we need to talk privately."

"Yes, Sir."

* * *

"I agree to let you take him out early, and this is what happens?" Washington seethed as he paced around his office. Laurens calmly stood in place all the while, his hands clamped behind his back.

"It was his idea, Sir," Laurens repeated. "I wasn't expecting him to run off like that."

"I put you in charge of him, because I assumed you would be able to expect what he would do."

"No one can predict what people do, exactly. Hamilton just happens to be more unpredictable than most."

"You were supposed to keep him in check."

"Sir, with all due respect, that unpredictable part of him caught the Thirds off guard tonight. If I hadn't let him run off, we would have had a full on battle on our hands."

"And you expect me to thank him for doing that?"

"Of course not, Sir. I just think you should give him another chance." The general sighed deeply.

"Will you keep him from doing something like this again?"

"Not without my permission, Sir." Laurens smirked, gaining a breath of a laugh from Washington.

"One more chance," Washington confirmed. "I trust you with this, Laurens."

"I know, Sir."

"You're a good leader, Laurens, just like your father."

Laurens bit his lip, speaking quietly. "Thank you, Sir."

"Hamilton still needs to be reprimanded. Can you handle it?"

"Of course, Sir."

"Get to it."

"Yes, Sir."


	10. Chapter 9: We Need to Talk

Alexander didn't have to do anything for the next few days. He didn't even see Laurens for a long while. He was told by Lafayette one day to go to sleep early again, but, once again, was not told why. Alexander was awoken by a simple knock on the door in the middle of the night, so he quickly got dressed and stepped outside of his room. Lafayette stood there, holding out an earpiece, a flashlight, and a pistol. Alex took them and put them in the correct places while Lafayette led him down the hall. They stopped somewhat abruptly at the base of a staircase, where Lafayette pointed at the floor.

"This is where you will start," Lafayette stated. "You will walk along this hallway until it winds back around to the stairs, then you will repeat the process."

Lafayette was in the middle of turning away when Alexander stopped them to ask, "Why am I doing this?"

"Laurens wants to see if you would be a good night guard." With that, Lafayette walked up the stairs and into the darkness. The moment they were out of sight, Alexander's earpiece beeped. Laurens' voice suddenly flooded into Alexander's head.

"Start walking, Schoolboy." Alexander did as she was told, going where Lafayette had instructed him to.

"So, do you just walk around all night when you do this?" Alex stated, speaking quietly as to not wake anyone.

"Pretty much," Laurens said. "We talk sometimes, but theres usually not much to talk about. Only a few interesting things happen when you're locked in a building all your life."

"Don't you keep telling me that you're one of the most important people here? Why don't you just leave whenever you want?" Alexander wondered.

"I wish it was that easy," Laurens muttered.

"Why-"

"Why don't you ever ask anyone else questions?" Alexander didn't have a good answer.

"You could have just said you didn't want to be talked to."

"That's not-"

"It's fine, I have a question for Lafayette, anyway."

"Yes?" Lafayette replied.

"Were you always non-binary, or did you have a gender before?"

"I was originally male and used he/him pronouns." Lafayette's words sounded almost scripted.

"Why don't you still do that?" Alexander questioned.

After a moment, Lafayette responded, "I no longer have a sex; I have no need for a gender."

"That doesn't mean anything, you know. I mean, it's cool if you don't feel like you fit as a boy or a girl, but why didn't you stay who you were before you, uh, came back?" A minute passed, then another.

"I cannot remember feelings from my past; only facts. I know that I was boy before, but I do not think that would... _fit_ anymore. I have changed."

"Alright," Alex hummed. "I can understand that. What about you, Mulligan? What were you like before you came here?"

"Well, uh, I was kind of an asshole," Mulligan said.

Both Laurens and Alexander responded, "You still are." Alexander could basically hear Mulligan's eyes rolling.

" _I mean_ , I was a horrible bully in high school, and I only got worse after I graduated. I made the mistake of trying to mug a Third one night and was brought here. I've since become a better person, I think."

"That's debatable," Laurens mumbled.

"Shut up."

"Laurens, you've been here since you were three, right?" Alexander wondered.

"...Yes," Laurens answered hesitantly.

"So, I doubt you remember anything from-"

"I actually remember a lot, none of which you will hear about."

"Why not, Laurens?" Lafayette asked. "Everyone else knows-"

"Yeah? Well, I've decided that it's none of his business."

"Okay," Alex interrupted. "You don't have to tell me. I don't like talking about my past either."

"Look, you two have something in common," Mulligan snickered. "You'd make great friends." Only two seconds later, Alexander's earpiece faintly clicked. He didn't know why or how, but he couldn't hear Laurens, Mulligan, and Lafayette anymore, and they couldn't seem to hear him, either. After a few minutes of silence, quiet footsteps began coming up behind Alexander. He was about to turn around when someone grabbed his arm, pulling him down a different hallway. Alex turned to see Laurens, his face clouded with frustration and the shadows of night, his eyes trained ahead.

"They can't hear us," Laurens finally said. "Our earpieces have been disconnected for the time being. We need to make this quick."

"Wha-" Laurens pushed Alex forward when they got into the mess hall, as if holding his arm for so long would be poisonous. Alexander stumbled forward, but righted himself and faced Laurens, who had crossed his arms.

"We need to talk." An odd thing for Laurens to say, in Alexander's opinion, but the captain was too menacing to question at the moment.

"About what?" Alexander nervously asked.

Laurens opened his mouth, then closed it again, as if changing his mind on what to say. He eventually settled on "About you not listening to me."

"What are you talking about? I do everything you tell me to."

"Not without an hour of complaining and arguing," Laurens scoffed.

"I'm allowed to have opinions on things."

"You almost got killed and kicked off of my squadron at the same time, both because you didn't listen to me."

"Maybe because I don't care about either..." Alex muttered under his breath. "Honestly, that was your fault. You should have had a better plan, like mine." Laurens sighed.

"The tactics I use have been used for decades, and have worked just fine. My father, the previous general, taught them to me, so those are the plans I use."

"Why?"

"Because if I am to be the general someday, then I need to act like a general."

"That doesn't mean you have to act like your father. Clearly, there are better ways to do things now."

Laurens growled-actually growled, his arms lowering to his sides, his hands clenched in fists. "Clearly, you don't know how anything works around here." He took a step towards Alexander; Alex stepped back, sensing he made a mistake. "Clearly, you have no respect for your superiors." Laurens took another step, backing Alexander into a table. "Clearly, you don't understand that you have to act how people expect you to, or else you get no respect, because you're a pitiful little kid." Even though he was only an inch or two taller, Laurens towered over Alexander. Their faces were less than a foot apart, and Laurens' was twisted in anger while Alexander's showed fear, then confusion, then understanding.

"You're scared," Alex whispered.

" _What?_ "

"You're scared, aren't you?" Laurens stammered, faltering and taking a small step back. "You think everyone expects you to be just like your father, so you act like this and do whatever he did." Alexander was the one to move forward now, making Laurens back up, his angry facade still on his face. "You're scared that no one will listen to you if you change something or act differently. You're the 'pitiful little kid,' aren't you?"

Laurens stared at Alex, getting a stare in return. Although Laurens' face showed frustration, his eyes showed a strange mix of terror, concern, and-oddly enough-hope.

Maybe Alexander's eyes were playing tricks on him.

"Go back to your room, Hamilton," Laurens said, his voice low. He looked away from Alexander, taking shaky, deep breaths.

"But-"

"I don't think you're fit for being a night guard. Go back to your room, _now_."

"Fine, Mom." Laurens flinched ever-so-slightly as Alex glared at him.

"Stop acting like a child, and maybe you'll get more respect."

"Last time I checked, I'm not a pitiful little kid." Alexander stormed off without looking back.


	11. Chapter 10: All is Fair

_The nerve of that kid._ Laurens was in the training field, beating a punching bag senseless. He still hadn't slept since his night guard duties, but he wasn't tired. His frustration and the morning light fueled him to stay awake.

Laurens had never met someone as stubborn as Hamilton. He was used to people being afraid of him, doing whatever he said, but Hamilton was different. Hamilton was brave and smart and strong and fierce...and Laurens hated him. Anytime Hamilton was around, Laurens felt a strange pain in his chest and stomach that he could only assume was loathing. The feeling only grew stronger when Laurens realized that Hamilton was just like him.

Laurens punched so hard that the bag was launched to the ground. The punch was so strong and quick that Laurens felt the metal in his shoulder scrape against his bone. He moved to a different punching bag and wailed at that one, too. He was angry. He was angry. He was angry. He didn't know why he had to keep reminding himself of that. After all, Hamilton wasn't listening to him. He was questioning Laurens' leadership. He had mentioned...he had said... _Mom_.

For a split second, Laurens' guard went down, and he was almost hit by the punching bag. He caught it, however, pushing it away from him.

Laurens thought that he should have tackled Hamilton to the ground the moment that dreadful word had been uttered. He thought that Hamilton should have been kicked off the team right after that mission, maybe even before that. He thought that if he had his way...

Well, shit. This was his way, wasn't it? Laurens was the reason Hamilton was still in his squadron. Laurens had been fighting for Hamilton this whole time, hadn't he? Hamilton wasn't afraid of Laurens, because Laurens wasn't being someone to be afraid of.

That could change.

* * *

Alexander yawned as he stepped outside. He hadn't gotten much sleep that night, but Lafayette had woken him up nonetheless, saying Laurens wanted to train him. Although Lafayette spoke without emotion, they seemed to hesitate when they mentioned Laurens.

"Is there something wrong?" Alex wondered. Lafayette's lips were parted for a long moment, as if they were stuck between answering or not.

"Laurens is...upset with you," Lafayette finally said.

"I wonder why," Alexander muttered under his breath.

"I advise that you be careful; try not to anger him further. He is planning to train you hard today."

"Sounds fun."

"I assure you, it will be far from fun." Alexander sighed.

Now, Alexander walked across the training field with Lafayette, spotting Laurens and Mulligan ahead of him. Laurens was lifting a punching bag off of the ground as he talked to Mulligan. Instead of putting the bag back where it belonged, however, he caught sight of Alex, scowled, and tossed the bag a few feet away.

"Hamilton," Laurens despisingly said.

Alex nodded. "Laur-"

"You'll start by running today," Laurens stated. "Five laps. Go."

"You're just-"

" _Go_." Laurens was clearly not backing down this time. Alexander exhaled, tightened his ponytail, and headed off. After he ran, Alexander had to practice shooting and climbing, then he had to hit a punching bag. Laurens only spoke when he told Alexander to do something different, or when he yelled "Wrong!" anytime Alex did something incorrectly. His commentary was about as helpful as anyone would expect.

After a few hours of training, Alexander was absolutely exhausted, but Laurens still had something in mind: sparring.

"Why do we always spar when I train?" Laurens didn't answer, he just stood in position, his face reflecting the war he was fighting in.

"Fight me."

 _Fight me, kid._

"What..." Alexander was slightly taken aback. He hadn't heard those words since... Alex shook his head. "Okay." The moment Alex stepped forward, he found himself on the ground. Laurens had flipped him over, throwing him onto his back. " _Ow_. Jesus."

"Yeah, I'm not going easy on you anymore," Laurens said, stepping back. "I'll let you try again, though." Alexander groaned as he stood, his back sore from the impact to the ground. He rushed forward again, dodging Laurens' lunge at him. Then, Alex's legs were kicked out from under him, and an elbow hit his back. He fell on his stomach this time, his face scraping against the dirt. Laurens hadn't been kidding about not going easy on him. "Are you even trying, Hamilton?"

 _You call that fighting?_

Alexander stood again and tried to punch Laurens, but Laurens grabbed his arm and twisted until Alex had to fall to keep his bone from breaking. When he tried to stand, Laurens kicked his side, forcing him to stay on the ground.

"Get up and fight me, Hamilton," Laurens said mockingly, kicking Alex again. "Just _try_ to beat me."

 _I said, fight me!_

"Stop," Alex whimpered, beginning to curl up in a ball and cover his face.

"No. Fight me." Laurens kicked him again.

 _If you want me to stop, then you have to fight._

"Please..." Alexander cried.

"Laurens," Lafayette called out, "he has had enough." Laurens ignored them.

"Fight me, goddammit!" Laurens started to kick Alexander more frequently now, each blow coming with another scream.

 _Fight me! Fight me! Fight me!_

" _Shut up!_ " Rage burned inside of Alexander. The next time Laurens tried to kick him, Alexander grabbed his leg and pulled, knocking Laurens off balance. As he stood, Alex elbowed Laurens in the stomach and face, then shoved him onto the ground. Before Laurens could get up, Alexander pinned him down with a knee against his stomach. Alexander wrapped his hands around Laurens' throat and squeezed, seeing red. "Tell me to fight you again! I fucking dare you!" Alexander was pulled back by Lafayette, and he lost his grip on Laurens. When Laurens stood, Alex broke away from Lafayette and glared at them.

"Hamilton, calm down." Alexander spun to face Laurens.

"Oh, that's rich coming from you," Alex sneered. "It's totally fine if you get mad, but no one else is allowed to? Well, guess what? All is fair in love and war."

"I'm pretty sure you just tried to kill me. I think that's diff-"

"Maybe you deserve it." Laurens seemed to falter, taking a half step back. "Maybe you're such a horrible asshole that you deserve it. Maybe you've put me through hell, so you deserve it. Maybe..." Alexander blinked, making his tears fall down his cheeks. When his vision cleared, he remembered that he was talking to Laurens and not... _him_. "Maybe you remind me of someone..." Alex looked Laurens dead in the eyes. "Someone who had better be dead." Alexander ran back across the field and inside before anyone could stop him, biting back tears.

* * *

"Holy shit..." Mulligan mumbled once Hamilton was out of sight.

"Are you alright, Laurens?" Lafayette asked. Laurens coughed.

"I'm fine," Laurens muttered, not looking at either of them.

"You really pissed him off this time," Mulligan said.

"Yeah...but...I think...I don't think he's mad at me exactly."

"Dude, he's mad at you."

"I know that. But there's someone else...something else going on with him."

"What should we do about that? About anything?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Shouldn't we at least tell the general about-" Laurens cut Lafayette off by raising his hand.

"No. Hamilton is fine."

"How can you say that?" Mulligan wondered. "He tried to-"

"I triggered something, reminded him of someone, pushed him too far. He fought against that. That's good."

"But-"

"I said, he's fine. I just can't do certain things to him, clearly."

"You literally only trained him today because you were upset that he-"

"I get it."

"Do you? Because you keep changing how you feel about him. Sometimes he's the worst, and sometimes he's the best."

"Well..." That odd feeling returned to Laurens' gut, and his face grew warm. "I...you know how I am. I do that. Besides, he's...confusing."

"Yeah, but-"

"Enough. He's fine. I'll work with him better. He'll come with us on our next mission."

"Are you sure he is ready?" Lafayette asked.

"Yes, I'm sure." Mulligan glanced at Lafayette, not believing a word. "You two are dismissed." Lafayette and Mulligan hesitantly walked off, leaving Laurens on his own to think.

He really didn't know how he felt, did he? Just that morning, he had hated Hamilton, but now...what was going on with him? Laurens had figured out that the feeling inside of him wasn't hatred, but he didn't know what else it could be. His confusion turned to frustration and his frustration turned to anger and that anger made him do the kinds of things he had done today. He knew this was a problem, but he couldn't fix something if he didn't know what was broken. All he knew was that that feeling was connected to Hamilton somehow.

And that the feeling was growing.


	12. Chapter 11: Abort Mission

**Happy New Year! Have fun with this...**

 _ **One week later...**_

The feeling inside of Laurens was beginning to actually, physically hurt him now. He was sitting in the back of a sleek, black car, heading to one of the casinos in the theater district of Times Square. The rest of his squadron was following him in other cars. Lafayette was driving, Mulligan was in the passenger seat, and Hamilton sat next to Laurens. The four of them were forced to wear tuxedos instead of their usual suits, which made Laurens feel uncomfortable in his own skin. Well, Hamilton was making him feel uncomfortable, as well.

Hamilton was staring out the window with wide-eyed wonder at the lights of the city. A small smile was on his face as they passed by bright signs and beautiful theaters. Laurens had to admit, the city was gorgeous at night, and it was kind of nice to see Hamilton when he wasn't inclined to kill.

Laurens blinked, realizing he had been unintentionally staring at his teammate. He quickly turned to face his own window, the pain in his stomach growing stronger.

Finally, the car stopped in front of the casino, and Laurens and Hamilton stepped out. Mulligan and Lafayette left, having a different station.

Their mission tonight was either going to be difficult, or difficult and extremely dangerous. The Union knew for sure that a group of Thirds were going to be at this casino, although they were unsure why. Based on the information they had gathered, and the truckload of explosives, they had reason to believe that the Thirds were planning a terrorist attack, however, they weren't entirely sure. If there was no attack, then they had to figure out why the Thirds were there in the first place. Essentially, they were going in completely blind and partially well dressed.

"Have you never worn a tie before?" Laurens asked, noticing that Hamilton had tied the garment wrong. Hamilton looked down at his tie, frowning and shaking his head, ashamed. "How do I of all people know how to tie a tie, but you don't?" Hamilton shrugged. Laurens sighed and rolled his eyes, leading Hamilton to the side of the casino's entryway. Without thinking, Laurens reached out and gently tugged on Hamilton's tie, attempting to take it off.

"What are you doing?" Laurens stilled for a second after hearing Hamilton's voice. He blinked and continued to untie the tie.

"You can't go into an undercover mission looking like crap." Laurens began retying Hamilton's tie, then pulled it tight against his throat. He looked Hamilton over for much longer than he needed to. "There. Now you actually look good."

"Thanks?" Hamilton reached up to his neck to loosen his tie, and his hand brushed against Laurens'. The captain flinched and quickly moved his hands away when he realized that he was still holding Hamilton's tie. He looked away to keep from blushing. "Let's go." Hamilton started to walk further into the building. "By the way, you forgot to put your hair up." Laurens touched his head, finding that his curls were indeed hanging by his ears. He hastily pulled it into a ponytail and followed Hamilton inside, his insides a raging fire.

The two of them were supposed to go undercover in the bar and scout for Thirds. They found a seat, called for drinks, and looked around. When their drinks arrived, Hamilton went to take a sip of his, but Laurens slapped his hands.

"What do you think you're doing?" Laurens questioned.

"What? I just-"

"We only got drinks to help us blend in. We can't actually get drunk." Hamilton pouted and put his glass down. "Besides, you're underage. You aren't allowed to drink alcohol anyway."

"That's lame."

"That's the law." Hamilton sat moping like a child for minute. His sulking eventually became too much for Laurens to handle, so he leaned forward to speak quieter. "You know what, you're actually pretty lucky. You technically aren't even allowed to be in here until you're 21." A ghost of a smirk appeared on Hamilton's face for a split second.

"I still can't do anything."

"Well," Laurens sighed, "maybe-if we're all alive when we win the war-all of us can come here to celebrate. Assuming it isn't blown to hell." Hamilton's eyes lit up. Laurens kept noticing things like that.

"Could we see a show, too?" Laurens laughed a bit.

"I didn't take you for a Broadway kinda guy." Hamilton's face reddened.

"You don't know me."

"You're right." Laurens gazed at Hamilton, thinking. "Alright, fine. When we win, we'll see a show, too." Hamilton's face suddenly fell. "What?"

"Why do you keep saying 'when we win'? Shouldn't you be saying 'if'?" Laurens grinned bittersweetly and sucked his tooth.

"We can't afford to say 'if,' Hamilton. I can't- _wait_." Laurens peered over Hamilton's shoulder at the bar table.

"What?" Hamilton made to turn around, but Laurens stopped him.

"Don't look. You'll make it obvious." Laurens spoke quietly into his earpiece, but made it seem like he was still talking to Hamilton. "I found one."

"Congratulations," A said. "Get them alone."

"Yeah, we'll get on that." Laurens' eyes darkened. "But maybe you should ask Laf if they want a little revenge."

"Um...why?"

"Because the Third is their killer."

"...Ah. I'll, uh, I'll let them know. You still need to do your job, though. Be careful."

"Who is it?" Hamilton asked. "I want to see."

"Come on." Laurens stood and led Hamilton away from the bar and towards the slot machines. They stood as if they were playing the game while Laurens pointed out the Third. "There, at the bar. The tall guy with curly hair." Hamilton looked around before snorting.

"You could've just said it was the guy in the bright purple jacket."

"Unimportant. We need to get him alone."

"We don't have time to wait until he leaves, and by the looks of it, he's not leaving anytime soon." Hamilton was probably right. The Third appeared to be drinking quite a bit, and heavily flirting with the male bartender. Not that Laurens had a problem with that. It was just something he would never, ever, ever do. Why was he thinking about this? "I have an idea."

"What?"

"How old would you say he is? Early twenties?"

" _What?_ "

"I just...I think I know how to get him alone...but it's weird."

 _Wait_..."Are you going to-"

"That's the plan."

"Ah." Laurens thought for a moment, shifting his eyes between Hamilton and the Third. "Don't do anything stupid." Laurens pushed Hamilton forward a bit, then watched as he confidently walked towards certain doom.

* * *

As Alexander got closer to the Third, the bartender he was flirting with walked away. The Third frowned and took another chug of his drink. Alex took a deep breath, straightened his tie, and sat next to the Third at the bar. When was the last time he had had to flirt this much?

"Things not working out for you?" The Third turned, surprised. He looked Alexander over, then smirked slightly.

"I guess not." He had a sickly sweet southern accent. "Why do you want to know?"

 _Here we go._... "It's just a shame that such a pretty face like yours looks so sad."

"That's real cute, but I'm already focused on someone else." The Third glanced up at the bartender, who seemed to be purposely ignoring him.

"He doesn't seem to be very focused on you, though."

"Yeah," the man sighed.

"What would he do if you you made him jealous?"

"He'd literally try to kill you."

"I'd risk it to help you out."

"You mean, to spend some time alone with me." Alexander shrugged.

"That's a bonus."

"Is it just a bonus that you're making your little friend jealous, too?" Alex's face flushed. The Third laughed. "I saw you earlier. You were sitting by someone, right? Where did he go?"

"Slots."

"Mm. I understand. But I would've assumed you would've taken the chance to gamble, too, seeing as you shouldn't be in here anyway."

"I...huh?"

"You aren't 21. I'd say you're...19. Dropped out of college for some reason, probably because of your boyfriend, but now he won't let you do anything fun. Hell, I'm willing to bet he won't do anything 'fun' with you, anymore, and that's why you came to talk to me." Alex blinked.

"How..."

"I can read you like a book." The man winked. Alexander frowned, not knowing how to respond. "But I like you." The Third leaned over the bar to wave at the bartender. "Maddie, dearest, bring my friend a drink, pretty please?" He winked again as the bartender rolled his eyes and began mixing a drink. When it was done, Alexander watched it pass through the Third's hands, making sure nothing was put in it. He deemed it safe and held it up to his lips. "Go on, try it. I won't tell anyone you're underage." Alex smirked and took a sip. The liquid burned as it went down his throat, but he drank a little more to keep up his facade. "So, what's your name, Hon?"

Alex thought for a moment, not knowing if he should give away information like that to someone like this. "Call me Hamilton."

The Third looked confused for a moment, but continued coolly, "Last name basis? Alright. You can call me Jefferson."

"Will do," Alexander smiled. The Third studied Alexander again with a new glint in his eyes.

"You know, you're pretty cute, kid."

"Thanks. You aren't too bad yourself." Jefferson gazed at him for a minute, the same way Laurens had earlier when he was thinking. Alex tried to sip his drink without seeming awkward.

"Cheers," Jefferson said suddenly, holding out his glass.

"To what?"

"To...our lives changing for the better."

"Yeah, to change." They clinked their glasses and drank, and Alexander felt his brain grow a bit more numb.

"How about we start that change tonight, huh?" Jefferson stood and reached out his hand. Alex hesitantly took it and was led out of the room. As he left, Jefferson winked at the bartender again. While his head was turned, Alex turned to try to find Laurens in the crowd. He did after a moment, but Laurens' face was stoic, almost angry.

"I think he's mad at me again," Alexander muttered.

"Don't worry about him, Hamilton," Jefferson said as he pulled Alexander out the door, towards the hotel rooms. "You won't be seeing him for a while, anyway." Jefferson took Alexander through the halls until he opened a door at the end. "Sit." Alex sat down on the bed so fast it made him dizzy. Jefferson leaned down to Alexander's ear to whisper, "Tell me more about yourself, Hamilton."

"Like-Like what?" Having this man so close to him made Alexander's breath shorten. His thoughts seemed to slow, but he had to be ready to fight.

"Like...hm...why did you and your little friends from the Union decide to show up tonight?" Alex blinked.

"Wait, what?" Jefferson snickered, taking a smug step back.

"I can read you much better than you thought, huh?" Before anything else could happen, Alexander shot his fist forward, but it missed so dramatically that Jefferson didn't even need to dodge. Odd, he could have sworn he was aiming directly at Jefferson's face, and he wasn't too far away. In response to the failed attack, Jefferson swiftly grabbed Alex's arms and shoved him so that he was laying on the bed. "You're new, aren't you? Well, I've got some advice for you." Jefferson smirked wickedly and seductively. "Learn who you're about to play against before you start the game." Alex struggled to get out from under Jefferson's grasp, but it seemed like all the strength had been drained out of him. His vision blurred, and his hearing grew muddled. He felt tired, and his movements began to slow. Eventually, Jefferson let go of Alexander, but the boy couldn't do much more than sit up a small bit farther. He shook his head, but it just made him feel nauseous.

"Ugh...what?" Jefferson walked towards a dresser in the corner and rummaged through one of the drawers.

"Don't worry, Honey," Jefferson chirped, "the drug won't kill you. It probably won't even knock you out. Its main job is to make you so loopy that you can't run away as easy."

"But...you never-"

"I never drugged you? Yeah, _I_ didn't. My friend Maddie did."

Alexander's brain wasn't allowing him any memories, so he simply asked, "Who?"

"You don't remember? He was the bartender tonight. Well, he was acting as one." Jefferson finally found what he was looking for, which was apparently a handgun.

"...Fuck."

"Oh, don't worry too much. I doubt your 'friends' will come trying to get you back. If they do, _my_ friends will stop them before they even get close."

"No, no they'd-"

"They're selfish, kid. Trust me, I know."

"You're th' selfish ones," Alex mumbled, his voice slurring. Jefferson began to pace the room like a movie villain, examining his gun.

"Hmph. Is that what they're saying about us? Isn't it enough that you call us 'Thirds'?" Jefferson rolled his eyes. "Such a stupid name. We're Kingsmen, actually."

"I don' care." Jefferson sighed.

"Anyway, yes, your Union is selfish, but, I will admit, we are, too. Just in a different way. You see, there's two types of selfishness: personal selfishness and group selfishness."

"Sounds like bullshit."

"It's not. The Kingsmen specialize in group selfishness. We work together to get exactly what _we_ want. You work together for 'the good of America'. However, do you always work together? Or do you work for yourselves? For example, I'm sure that everything you've done tonight wasn't to help. It was to prove yourself, right? Maybe to that little friend of yours?" Alexander's eyes widened against his own volition, and his face began to burn. Jefferson laughed. "I'm willing to bet you're trying to prove yourself to him because he's selfish, too. Maybe it's power he's after? Whatever it is he wants, it's clearly not you." Jefferson had stepped closer to Alexander and taken hold of his chin. He grinned as he spoke, his lips near to Alex's.

Alexander spit in his face, making him jump back in shock. "Fuck you. I don' care." Jefferson took a handkerchief out of his pocket and used it to clean his face.

"Sure you don't. My point is, the people in the Union are inherently selfish, but only a few Kingsmen that I know are like that. See, we try to help each other. We don't push each other too far. We don't hurt each other. We listen to each other's ideas. Do your people do that?" Alexander didn't have enough brain power to lie again.

"Fuck you."

Jefferson sighed, "Why did I even bother talking to you while you're so drugged up?"

"I dunno. Maybe you're stupid."

"I liked you better when you were an annoying flirt."

"I liked you better when you didn' talk."

"Well, I guess neither of us are getting what we want."

"Why d'you have a gun, Mr. Jefferson? I don' like guns..."

"Just in case, my dear."

"In case o' what?" As if on cue, the sounds of a fight broke out behind the door.

"In case of that." Jefferson gripped Alexander's arm and yanked him to his feet, the quick movement making Alex's head swim in pain. Jefferson held Alexander tight against his side, then pressed the muzzle of the gun to Alexander's temple. The boy froze and gulped as the fighting outside silenced and stopped. Suddenly, the door broke open, and in stormed Lafayette, Mulligan, and Laurens. All three of them had their guns pointed at Jefferson. Laurens tightened his grip on his weapon when his eyes landed on Alexander. "Oh, look at that. They actually came to save you."

"Let him go," Laurens demanded.

"Hm...I don't know..." Jefferson pushed his gun harder against Alex's head, making the boy whimper.

"Let. Him. Go."

"Why do you want him so much?" Jefferson gasped in mock surprise. "Wait a second. Hamilton, darling, you never told me he would _actually_ be jealous." Laurens glanced at Alexander in confusion, but Alex looked away.

"Laurens is gonna be mad at me," Alex muttered. He hiccuped.

"What did you do to him?" Laurens questioned, taking a step forward. Jefferson pulled Alexander closer to him, making Laurens freeze.

"Ah ah, you don't want to get too close now. Your boyfriend here is fine. Just a little drugged up."

"Goddammit. What do you want?"

"Not much, really. I just want to bring your friend back to my headquarters to get some information from him."

"He doesn't know about anything you would want to know. You might as well give him back."

"You know what, sure. We'll trade. I'll give him back if _you_ come with me." Alex shook his head, panic in his eyes.

Laurens ignored him, immediately saying, "Fine."

"Laurens, no- _Agh!_ " Alexander was shoved forward and onto the floor. Mulligan helped him up, and they watched Laurens drop his gun and step forward. Jefferson smiled flirtatiously and grabbed Laurens' arm. Laurens scowled at him and gave his teammates a nod, saying they should leave. Mulligan tugged Alexander out of the room, no matter how much he struggled. He had been taken a few steps down the hall before he managed to break free. He tried to run back to where Laurens was being held, but Mulligan grabbed his arm again.

"What are you doing?" Mulligan hissed.

"Laurens is still stuck back there!" Alex cried. "We have t' help 'im! We have to-"

"Laurens will be fine. We need to get out of here-"

"No!" Alexander tore himself out of Mulligan's grasp and stepped back. Mulligan glanced at Lafayette and started walking away. "Wait! Where're you going?"

"We're leaving. You can stay if you want."

"What? But you have t' help him!" Mulligan ignored him, hurrying down the hallway with Lafayette behind him. "You selfish- _ugh!_ " Alexander stomped on the floor like a child throwing a tantrum. He was now alone, afraid, and so doped up that he couldn't even help.

* * *

Laurens brushed his hands off, looking down at the knocked out Third in front of him. He knew Hamilton wouldn't have been able to do something like this is his drugged-up state, so he made a quick switch. Now, he just had to get out.

Laurens was surprised the moment he opened the door. Hamilton was standing there, upset. "Hamilton?" The boy whipped around, excitement and shock on his face.

"Laurens!" Hamilton gasped. "You're alive!"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be? Why are you still here?"

"Mulligan and Laf didn' wanna help you, so they left already." Laurens frowned, then heard a thud from the room behind him.

"Come on, we have to leave." Laurens took Hamilton's hand, ignoring the blush forming on both of their faces. Laurens began leading Hamilton through the halls, keeping him from stumbling to the floor every two steps.

"You're mad at me," Hamilton said.

"What? No, I-"

"Yes, you are. You're always mad at me. An' I fucked up real bad." Laurens sighed, wanting Hamilton to stop talking.

"It wasn't your fault. I'm not mad at you."

"You're lying...but okay." Laurens sighed again and simply continued to look for the exit. Just a couple minutes later, Laurens turned a corner, then instantly turned back and leaned against the wall. "What-" Laurens put a finger to his lips and listened close to the people he had seen in the hall.

"Jefferson was attacked," one of them said. "The guy he had escaped."

"He can't have gotten too far," the other said. "I'll tell the others to start a search."

 _Shit_. Laurens pulled Hamilton down a different hallway as fast as Hamilton could move without nearly vomiting. The hall ended with a turn to either side. Laurens started going down the left hall, but froze in the middle. A man appeared at the end of the hall, talking to himself about "haven't seem him yet."

"Laurens," Hamilton whispered.

"I know." Laurens led Hamilton the other way.

"Laurens, no. Look." They were surrounded. Each direction they could go was being blocked by a Third who was trying to find them. Hamilton gently tugged on Laurens' arm and pointed at a door behind them. They rushed inside to hide, only to find that it was a closet filled with coats. Laurens leaned against the wall and exhaled while Hamilton hid between the coats and giggled.

"A, can you see the hall?" Laurens asked.

"Yup," A replied. "They're checking all the rooms."

"Well, crap. How do we get out of here?"

"I don't know."

"A never talked to me," Hamilton complained. "She probably thinks I'm dumb."

"A thinks everyone is dumb," Laurens assured. He tried to think of a way out, but nothing he thought of would work. Hamilton was in no way capable of fighting at the moment, and Laurens himself couldn't fight off three Thirds. Two, sure, but not three. Besides, Hamilton kept him from hearing his own thoughts.

"Laurens," Hamilton snickered. "We gotta come out o' the closet, Laurens. I know you wanna." Laurens nearly groaned out loud because of the pain in his gut. "But we can't get out yet, can we? We have t' make 'em ignore us."

"What are you going on about?" The footsteps down the hall began to grow closer.

"Are you a good actor Laurens?"

"If I need to be. Why?"

"I have an idea, but you need t' act like in the movies."

"Um..." The footsteps were close now. "What's your idea?"

"Shh..." Hamilton stepped up to Laurens, only inches away. His eyes were dark, as if he was drunk, and a smirk played at his lips. Laurens stared at him, confused, while his insides were stabbed at.

"Hamilton-"

"Shh!" The footsteps were just outside the door now. Hamilton waited, and waited, and waited, then smiled at Laurens and stood even closer.

Then, Hamilton launched towards Laurens, connecting their lips together.

Time slowed to a crawl. The pain inside of Laurens suddenly shrunk down to the size of a single atom, then exploded out again, but not in pain. In something...different. Something new.

Laurens' eyes fluttered closed, not because of unconscious movement, but because he saw the doorknob turning. Laurens kissed Hamilton back, not because he wanted to, but because it was the only plan they had. Laurens sighed at the feeling of Hamilton's hands traveling across his back, not because it was euphoric, but because a Third was standing right there, and he needed to act. He was acting, not because that was what he had to tell himself, but because that was what was happening.

The door closed again, and after a second, Hamilton backed away-after Laurens pushed him...of course... Hamilton laughed hysterically as he fell against the wall. Laurens, however, stood, unmoving, gaping at Hamilton.

"You're a good actor, Laurens," Hamilton giggled. Laurens couldn't comprehend his words, or his own thoughts, which were spinning like a tornado in his mind. The feeling inside of him was inexplicably gone, but had been replaced by a firey blush on his face. Laurens cleared his throat, trying to speak, but nothing came out of his mouth. "Ready t' come out o' the closet, Laurens?" All Laurens could think to do was glare at Hamilton.

"Shut up. Let's go." Laurens cautiously opened the door and looked around, then gestured for the now-frowning Hamilton to follow him down the hall.

As they ran (well, Hamilton was still having a bit of trouble, but he was getting used to it), Hamilton muttered, "Laurens is mad. I'm sorry, Laurens. I'm sorry."

Finally, Laurens and Hamilton ran out through the front of the casino, where their car was waiting. Laurens basically threw Hamilton into the back seat, then slid in next to him, slamming the door.

"Drive," Laurens instructed, and Lafayette slammed on the gas.

"Hey, Laurens," Mulligan said nervously. "So-"

"What the fuck, guys?" Laurens yelled.

"I told you," Lafayette muttered to Mulligan.

"Laurens is mad," Hamilton mumbled.

"Yeah, I'm mad," Laurens agreed. "The two of you had one job, and you just chose not to do it."

"Mulligan made me leave," Lafayette said.

"I get that, but I know you can still make decisions like this."

"Laurens," Mulligan cut in, "Hamilton wouldn't-"

"Oh, sure, good excuse." Laurens rolled his eyes. "Here's the problem with that: Hamilton can't do _shit_ on his own right now, because, let me remind you, he is _drugged_." Mulligan just stared at his lap. "At the very least, you could have stayed behind with him, or, I don't know, picked him up? But, no, you left him alone."

"Sorry."

"Oh, no. Sorry doesn't cut it. Do you know how hard it was to escape? We were _this_ _close_ to getting caught again." Laurens didn't mention what had happened between him and Hamilton when they had been escaping. There were no cameras in that closet, so nobody knew, and nobody would ever know. "You've got some consequences to deal with when we get back. Understand?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Sir," Hamilton repeated, snickering.

The rest of the ride back was near-silent. It was late at night, and they were all exhausted (well, Lafayette wasn't; they didn't need sleep). Mulligan had fallen asleep a while ago, and Hamilton had been out for even longer. The problem was, Hamilton had fallen asleep on Laurens' shoulder, as if the captain wasn't already having issues.

Everytime Laurens was about to push Hamilton away from him, something stopped him. He would look down at Hamilton's face, which was peaceful and illuminated by the lights of New York City, and froze up. There was something about Hamilton's soft, slightly parted lips, his gentle breathing, his- _What the hell?_ Laurens shook his head, clearing it of...whatever _that_ was. He didn't wake Hamilton solely because he was still high, and he didn't want to deal with that.

He didn't want to deal with any of this, really.

"'m sorry, Laurens." Laurens started at the quiet voice next to him. Apparently, Hamilton had woken up on his own.

"What?" Laurens whispered.

"'m so sorry, Laurens. I made you mad. I don' like it when you're mad at me."

"I'm not..." Laurens sighed. "I'm not mad. At least, not at you."

"Yes, you are. I shouldn't've done all that. You told me not to do anything stupid, but I did, an' I fucked everything up, an' then-a-an' then-"

"Hamilton, seriously, it's...it's okay. We didn't really have any other options, and your plan worked, anyway."

"But you were still mad at me. You're always mad at me." Hamilton looked like he was about to cry. "You always yell at me an' hurt me an' I don' know what I did wrong." Laurens thought for a moment, before realizing that Hamilton was right. He suddenly felt terrible.

"I...you know what? Yeah, I do," Laurens admitted. "And I'm sorry. I'm not necessarily angry with you all the time, just...confused."

"Confused?"

"Yeah, confused."

"Why are you confused? Why am I confusing?"

"I...I don't know. I'm trying to figure that out."

"Oh...okay...sorry I'm so confusing."

"I don't think it's your fault."

"Okay...goodnight, Laurens." Hamilton nuzzled farther into Laurens' shoulder and closed his eyes again.

"Goodnight, Hamilton," Laurens said, holding back a small laugh.

Then, he frowned, because, all of a sudden, the pain had returned.


	13. Chapter 12: While Taking a Walk

**Sorry, but I need to change history a little bit here...also don't freak out.**

 _ **Five days later...**_

Laurens stayed in his room most of the time. It was slightly bigger than most of the other rooms, as he and the other captains had their own small desks. His door was simply painted with stripes of black and blue, but a miniature turtle had been drawn in the bottom corner. He liked turtles, but only a few people needed to know that.

Laurens' room was comfortable to him. It was a constant place if safety in his life. It was somewhere peaceful where he could think without being bothered too much. Unfortunately, if his thoughts were what was bothering him, there was almost no point to being in his room.

For days, Laurens tried his best to focus on his work and be a functional human being, but his memories kept replaying the events from that mission. He would be looking over papers or drifting off to sleep, when suddenly-

 _The warmth of Hamilton's body so close to him, the sweet taste of his lips, the exhilarating tingles that shot through Laurens' body, the-_

"Laurens?" Mulligan's voice broke through Laurens' thoughts. The captain shook his head and went to open his door. Mulligan stood there, somewhat awkwardly. "Hey, so, you know how you were going to train Hamilton today?"

"Yes," Laurens answered. "Why?"

"Well..." Mulligan scratched at the back of his neck. "He won't come out of his room. He didn't even answer me when I told him to come out."

"Okay? He never listens to you anyway."

"Yeah, but I asked Laf and some others, and they said Hamilton hasn't come out of his room in days." A flare of panic mixed in with the mysterious pain in Laurens' chest.

"And no one thought to check on him to make sure he's alive?" Laurens pushed past Mulligan and hurried down the hall.

"Well, we didn't want to just walk into his room," Mulligan said, following Laurens.

"You are so dumb sometimes, you know that?" Mulligan opened his mouth, but Laurens spoke first. "Just go set up the training field. I'll take care of this." They parted ways, and Laurens made a beeline for the green and gold door ahead of him. He knocked first, calling out, "Hamilton? You in there?" No answer. "I'm coming in whether you're naked or not." Maybe not the best thing to say; the pain grew once more. Still, Laurens opened the door, stepped inside the room, and closed the door behind him.

The room was empty on first glance, but a human shaped mound lay on the bed, beneath the blankets. Laurens sighed, sitting on the end of the bed. "Hamilton? You want to talk about anything?" No answer. "Listen, if you're still upset about what happened...I'm serious about not being mad at you. And nobody else knows, anyway." No answer. "Hamilton?" Laurens lightly poked the mass under the blankets. It seemed too soft. _Wait..._

Laurens hopped up, then pulled the blankets back. Underneath was not a person, but rather a pile of pillows. Laurens stared down at the bed in frustration. He couldn't believe he had fallen for something as dumb as this. Then, he realized that Hamilton wasn't in his room, and no one had seen him in days. Hamilton was missing. Hamilton was _missing_. _Shit_.

Laurens ran out of the room and down the hall. He slid down the railing on the staircase and kept running until he got to a door with silver circles on it. He opened the door and rushed inside, surprising A, who sat on a chair, eating a bowl of soup.

"What the fuck, Laurens?" A yelled. Laurens ignored her and closely inspected the wall in front of them. The wall was covered in various screens, each displaying a different camera feed from around the facility. Unfortunately, Hamilton wasn't on any of them. "What are you looking for?"

"You've been watching these, right?" Laurens asked.

"Duh. It's my job. What's the problem?"

"No one knows where Hamilton is."

"Ah. That's an issue, right?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, hang on." A closed her eyes as if in thought. Finally, A opened her eyes, a blue glint in them. She stepped towards the desk in front of her and clicked a few buttons. The feed on the cameras rewound about two and a half hours. Laurens watched the screens for a while, finding nothing of note. After a minute, however, the door to Hamilton's room opened. The boy could be seen leaving his room and sneaking down the hallway. He traveled through the different camera streams as he walked hastily through the facility with his head down. After turning a few corners, Hamilton slipped past a door and completely disappeared. "That leads to the roof, but he's never on any of the cameras up there. I never see him leave, either."

"Well, shit." Laurens sighed and nodded to A in thanks. He left the room without another word and hurried back down the hall. He followed the path that Hamilton had taken earlier, went through the door to the roof, and sprinted up the stairs. If he was correct, Hamilton should be... _there_.

Laurens knew the facility like the back of his hand. He knew where each room was and how to get there. He also knew that there was a six and a half foot area on the corner of the roof that none of the cameras were pointed towards. Somehow, Hamilton had found that portion of the roof, and was currently sitting there with his hands shoved deep in the pocket of his sweatshirt. His legs were swinging in the open air as he gazed down at the landscape below. Laurens crept up to Hamilton and stood next to him.

"Hey, Hamilton," Laurens said. The boy next to him didn't speak. He didn't even seem to be surprised or notice Laurens' presence at all. "Hey, uh...what're you doing up he-"

"Has anyone ever jumped off of here?" Hamilton's voice was faint and tired. Laurens was stunned by the question.

"Um...yeah, actually. Years ago. Why?" Hamilton shrugged, still not facing Laurens.

"I just...I kinda wanted to be the first, I guess." Hamilton barely finished speaking before Laurens grabbed him and pulled him away from the edge. Hamilton didn't struggle, simply allowing Laurens to sit him down against the wall.

"What the hell, Hamilton?" Laurens shouted, keeping a hold of Hamilton's lax shoulders. "You can't just do something like that."

"I've fucked up again," Hamilton mumbled. "What a surprise." Laurens blinked.

"Are you serious? Is that what this is about? That mission?"

"It's about more than that, Laurens. My whole life is full of fuck ups. My life is _fucked up_. All I seem to be able to do is fuck up everyone else's lives, and I'm so sorry about it." Hamilton's eyes watered. It was then that Laurens got a full look at Hamilton. The boy looked utterly exhausted. His face was pale, his eyelids drooped, and the bags under his eyes were a deep purple. He shivered under his sweatshirt, and his hair had been left down, covering much of his face.

"That doesn't mean you can just..." Laurens sighed. "Everyone fucks up. It's okay-"

"No, Laurens, it's not 'okay'. It's horrible. I've already ruined a million things in the amount of time I've been here. I took control of my first mission and almost killed everyone. I wasn't thinking in my second, and I caused so much trouble, and I almost got you caught, and I...I... _kissed_ you like a...a dumbass."

"Hamilton..." _Goddamn this pain_. "You didn't mess anything up by doing that. You saved me, actually. You haven't actually ruined anything."

"Easy for you to say," Hamilton scoffed. "You haven't...well, you probably have done that..."

"What? What have I done?"

Hamilton hesitated. "...Killed someone."

"Oh. Yeah...Wait, you've-"

"Yes."

"When?" Hamilton bit his lip and looked down.

"Seven years ago."

"Wha-but you were twelve."

"Yeah, I was. But some people are assholes." Hamilton's eyes glazed over as he stared ahead. Laurens sensed that Hamilton was about to talk for a while, so he sat next to him and wrapped an arm around his shoulder...so he didn't try to run and...do something... Hamilton let out a deep sigh before he began. "My dad-he doesn't even deserve to be called that, honestly-he was the aforementioned asshole. All he ever did was hurt my mom and I. It was hell.

"The weird thing was, he always tried to get me to fight back. He would scream at me to fight him as he beat me nearly to death. He even taught me how to shoot. I could never get him back, though. I was never strong enough to do anything. All I could do was deal with the pain.

"My mom and I would always try to protect each other-fruitless efforts, really. Still, we tried. Until she got sick, at least. We had just moved to America and were really poor already, so we couldn't buy her any medicine. She got worse everyday, and couldn't go to work anymore. My dad and I had to work extra to make enough money to keep us alive.

"Then...my dad grew tired of it. Mom wasn't getting better anytime soon, and maybe she never would have, but my dad didn't want to wait to see if she did. He-" Hamilton choked on a cry. "He brought me to her one day. I didn't understand why...until he took out his gun...and told me to shoot her."

Laurens swallowed a gasp. If he had gone through this, he would have turned at shot his father right then and there. Of course, Laurens had only been three when-

"I couldn't do it. I just couldn't. She was my mother and I loved her. She was the only person who had ever cared about me. I couldn't just... _kill_ her just because I was told to." Hamilton looked down at his hands. "But...my dad forced the gun into my hands and aimed at my mom, no matter how hard I tried to get away. No matter how hard I begged for him to stop. He started to hit me again, and my mom yelled at him to stop. She...she told me to kill her for my own safety. She knew she wasn't getting better, but I...I..." Hamilton shook as he cried, and Laurens sat still, patiently waiting for him to continue.

"I couldn't...I shouldn't have...I fucked up. I fucked up, Laurens. I killed her. I couldn't do anything else. I didn't want to. I didn't want to do it. I...I-"

"Shh..." Laurens held Hamilton close as he cried. He wanted nothing more than to assure him that it was alright, but he knew Hamilton would disagree.

Eventually, Hamilton continued, "I wanted to kill him. All I wanted to do was kill him and avenge my mother's death, but I was frozen in shock. That night, I made a plan to get revenge for everything in five days. But when the day came, I waited and waited, but...he didn't come back home. I never saw him again. I can only assume that he's dead. If he's not..."

"He's...he's who I reminded you of, isn't he?" Laurens realized.

"I...I guess...in the moment...yeah. But, trust me, you're incredibly more preferable."

"But I-"

"I pissed you off. I gave you an actual reason, at least. Everyone else just hated me."

"...Everyone else?" Hamilton must have been more comfortable talking about this, as he began to speak right away.

"After that, some people found out that I was alone, and they got me in the foster care system. Of course, with my _amazing_ luck, just about every home I went to was neglectful and abusive, so that didn't help my situation.

"I got a full-ride scholarship to King's," Hamilton smiled ever-so-slightly, "and it was okay for a while. Then," his smile fell, "I got a boyfriend. He...he sucked. And not in the good way. I don't know why I dated him for as long as I did. He took advantage of me, hurt me, ignored me, etcetera. I finally used my brain and left him after he...um...he tried to..." Hamilton fiddled with his sweatshirt for a minute and Laurens finally understood.

"Shit...I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize. I got away before he could do anything. Just...I already had really bad depression, and this all just made it ten times worse. I just wanted to die at this point, but I kept going as long as I could. A year later, I was stressed beyond measure because of school. It was all too much for me. I tried and tried to keep going, but I just..." Hamilton shook his head. "I couldn't do it anymore. I just couldn't."

Hamilton bit his lip and turned away. "I don't know who I wrote the note to. No one cared about me. Still, I wrote one. I grabbed the note, a bottle of sleeping pills, and took a walk.

"I was going to go to a bridge and go from there, but...I don't know what happened. Maybe it was so dark that I couldn't see where I was going, or maybe I subconsciously wanted to see the city more. I don't know. All I know is that while I was taking this walk, I turned down a different street, something happened...and now I'm here."

Laurens sucked in a breath. He hadn't known _that_. If Hamilton hadn't been there that night, he would have... _oh, God_... "So...I-we saved you?" Hamilton shrugged.

"I guess. E took away the pills and my note when I got here, too, so I can't even go painlessly-"

"Hamilton-"

"Sorry-"

" _Hamilton_." The boy hesitantly looked at Laurens with sad eyes. "Why are you telling me this?" Hamilton shrugged again.

"I figured you might as well know, in case I try to do something like this again." Hamilton gestured towards the edge of the roof.

"Well, I suppose that's helpful." Laurens and Hamilton sat in silence for a moment. "You know you didn't actually ruin those missions, right? You helped in the first, and the second wasn't your fault. You understand that, right?"

"You understand that I'm not going to just believe that, right?"

"I'm serious."

"Sure. Because you care."

"Why don't you believe that I do?"

"Because...why would you? What reason do you have?"

"Every reason." The words had just slipped out of Laurens' mouth without any thought, and had caught him by surprise. Apparently, it had shocked Hamilton, as well.

"What?" The boy sounded more offended than anything else.

 _No point in backing out now, I suppose._ Laurens took a deep breath. "You've given me every reason to care. You're one of the most intelligent, clever, and skilled people I've met. You...you've made me think about things that I've never thought of before. Hell, you've made me think things that I can't understand, no matter how hard I try. But, I think it's...a good thing...somehow." Hamilton scoffed.

"How could that possibly be good?"

"I don't know, okay. I just have this feeling... My point is, you shouldn't do something like this. Hurting yourself...it's not going to help. You know that, right?" Hamilton didn't answer. Laurens sighed. "Can you at least come back inside?" Hamilton shrugged.

"I'm sure you know that I don't want to."

"Please?" Hamilton's eyebrows furrowed a bit, and he glanced at Laurens out of the corner of his eye.

Finally..."Ugh...fine..." Laurens stood up and reached out a hand that Hamilton hesitantly took. When he stood, he was pulled into a tight hug. Hamilton stiffened in Laurens' arms, but the captian just held onto him tighter, a fire burning in his stomach. Oddly enough, it didn't necessarily hurt this time. It felt almost...cozy?

Laurens let Hamilton go, and the boy quickly wiped his eyes and cleared his throat. "Come on," Laurens said, gently patting Hamilton on the back. The boy nodded a bit and slowly followed Laurens back down the stairs and all the way to his room. "You can come out when you want to, okay?" Laurens spoke softly, looking at Hamilton with a gentle gaze. Hamilton nodded and slipped into his room, closing the door behind him. Laurens sighed and whispered to himself, "What am I going to do with you, Hamilton?"

* * *

Alex didn't know how long he had been sitting in his room until the lights turned off. He just lowered his head, letting his hair fall in front of his face like a curtain. He heard quiet footsteps outside, meaning the night guards were walking around. Alexander wondered if Laurens was out there.

Laurens was acting weird, Alexander had decided. He didn't know what it was, but something about him was different today. Of course, Alexander hadn't known Laurens for that long, but...still.

A faint knock startled Alex. He slowly looked up at the door, waiting for something to happen, but nothing ever did. Eventually, he hesitantly stood and moved towards the door, cautiously opening it. Nobody was there. Alexander stared into the dark ahead of him for a moment, confused, until he looked down.

On the floor in front of the door was a bottle of water, a sandwich in a bag, a folded note, and a small pill bottle. Alex quickly brought everything into his room and tossed it all on his bed. He picked up the note and read it. It was short and simple.

 _Eat. I know you haven't in a while._

 _Take 2 a day. I hope it helps._

 _-Laurens_

Alexander raised an eyebrow and picked up the orange pill bottle. They were antidepressants, he soon found out. The name on the bottle: J. Laurens. The rest of the first name had been scratched out in pen.

Alexander panicked a bit. _Laurens has to take antidepressants? I can't accept these from him._ Alex hid the pills under his pillow. He took out the sandwich and ate it, figuring he might as well humor Laurens at least somewhat.

He kept glancing back at his pillow as he ate. Alexander had never had the money for any medicine before, so he had never had antidepressants before. He had never had the time to wait to see if they would work. He certainly never thought Laurens cared enough about his well being to do something like this.

But...this has to mean that Laurens clearly cared...

Alexander finished eating and forced himself to go to sleep.

The next morning, he took the pills.

* * *

 **Disclaimer: If you need to take antidepressants or any other prescribed medicine, _do not give them away!_ It is extremely unhealthy and dangerous for both you and the receiver. If you want to get off your medication, talk to your doctor. If you think someone should be taking medication, or if they want to, tell them to talk to a doctor first. Thank you. Have a good (insert whatever time it is).**


	14. Chapter 13: Spilling the Beans

_It was dark outside. This part of the city didn't have many lights, so it was dark. Dark and hot._

 _He was scared. He shivered, even though it was hot. Dark and hot. He tried to call out to her, but she didn't seem to hear him._

 _It was dark, dark and hot, but the gun was still shiny._

 _She fell._

 _He screamed._

Laurens choked on a gasp as he shot up in bed. He shivered, even though he and his bed were soaked in sweat. He rubbed his face until it was devoid of any tears. The clock across the room read 2:45 in the morning. He had been asleep for no more than an hour. Laurens took shaky breaths and dropped his head onto his knees.

He may have made a small mistake. It had only been a day or two since he had last had his medicine, but everything was already going downhill. He couldn't sleep, and when he did, he had horrible, vivid nightmares. He constantly felt sick, like he would throw up at any moment, but he never did. He felt terrible in general-mentally-so the physical unwellness wasn't helping.

Withdrawals were pretty bad, as it turned out.

Of course, he had a meeting today that he had to be up early for. He debated whether or not it would be worth it to try to go back to sleep.

Laurens slowly got up, his vision blurring for a moment when he did so. He groaned and rubbed his eyes before taking a few shaky steps. Water was what he decided he needed. Yes, a drink of water and he would be fine.

Laurens didn't bother to shut his door quietly as he left his room and headed down to the mess hall. The night guards simply nodded to him as he walked by. The facility was silent and dark. Dark and hot. Laurens shivered. It wasn't like he was afraid of the dark or anything; the dark just brought certain bad memories with it.

The water didn't do much to help. The sips he took were few and far between as he sat at a table with his head in his hands. Every so often, Laurens would begin to nod off, only to be startled back into consciousness by faint whispers of his dreams.

"Good morning, Laurens." Laurens looked up when someone sat across from him. For a split second, he hoped it was Hamilton, but it wasn't.

"Burr?" Laurens muttered tiredly. "What are you doing up?"

"I woke up when I heard your door close," Burr explained. It made sense. All the captain's rooms were near to each other.

"Ah...sorry." Burr shook his head.

"Are you feeling alright?"

"Yes. Why do you ask?"

"You're shaking. You look awful, no offense."

Laurens hummed. "None taken. I'm sure it's true."

"Are you sick?"

"I think so."

"Have you been taking your medication?"

Laurens tried his best not to hesitate. "Yes."

"Should we postpone today's meeting-"

"No. I'll be alright. We need to discuss it anyway." Burr nodded.

"How's Hamilton?"

"Uh...what do you mean?"

"Have you told him the rule, yet?"

"Of course," Laurens lied.

"How'd he take it?"

"Well, I think. I didn't bring up that I know how he feels about me. I just kind of told him the rules of the Union and what not."

"Good to know."

"I'm sure Lee will be ecstatic, the bastard. He won't leave me alone about it."

"He's just concerned, is all."

"Somehow, I doubt that. I'll bet he'll bring up Hamilton during the meeting."

"I don't see why he would. He has no need to."

"He's an asshole. That's his reason."

"Laurens, you have nothing to worry about. It's not like Hamilton actually did anything."

A memory flew through Laurens' mind, making his head throb and his chest burn. He winced at the pain, but still said, "I know."

"Is everything alright?"

"Yes. I just..." Laurens groaned in pain. "I think I'm going to try to get back to sleep." Laurens sluggishly stood, then stumbled when he tried to walk forward. Burr was soon by his side, holding him up with one arm. "Thank you," Laurens said, his voice no more than a whisper.

"Of course." Burr helped Laurens back to his room, where he fell asleep as soon as he lay down in bed.

* * *

Laurens' sleep was restless, but it was sleep nonetheless. When he woke again, it was because of a knock on his door.

"Laurens," Sampson's voice called. "You're late." Laurens sighed, but didn't move. It wasn't like they were going to get anything done at this meeting; there really wasn't a point to getting up today. "Laurens." Sampson knocked again. Bit by bit, Laurens lifted himself out of bed and moved towards the door. He opened it, giving Sampson a tired glare. "Oof. You look like hell."

"That's how I feel. Let's just get this over with."

"You...aren't going to change?"

"I'm not doing anything else today," Laurens shrugged. Sampson eyed him suspiciously.

"Alright." They made their way to their meeting room, and the movement of walking there made Laurens want to vomit on its own.

The meeting room was pretty standard for office buildings. In it was a long table and several chairs surrounding it. There was even a projection screen against one wall. Burr and Lee were already sitting at the far end of the table, and they watched as Laurens walked in. He must have really looked terrible, based on the way Lee was staring at him.

"Took you long enough," Lee grumbled.

"Not today, Lee," Laurens muttered as he sat down at the head of the table.

"Oh, did you not get your beauty sleep-"

"I said, not today, Lee," Laurens growled. "Let's just figure this out, please." Lee grumbled something but nodded in agreement.

"Alright, boys," Sampson said, "here's the deal. The Thirds had an entire truckload of explosives, which led us to believe they were planning a terrorist attack. However, when we got to the suspected location, there was no sign of a planned attack. Instead, the Thirds were already aware of us being there, presumably before we were there in the first place. So, we have to try to answer two questions today: Why do they need such an abundance of explosives? How did they know we were coming? We might not get concrete answers, but we need ideas at least."

"Well, they still must have been planning some kind of attack," Burr said. "Why else would they need that amount of explosives?"

"Well, duh, but why would they try another terrorist attack in the first place?" Lee asked. "We all remember when they tried to do this years ago. It didn't work well for them, and it got them nowhere."

"They've been amping up their tactics for just about a year now. We need to figure out _why_."

"That's exactly what I just-"

"They might be trying to tire us out," Laurens interjected, sounding as if the Third's tactics had already worked on him. "They're making us work harder for the same results."

"What do we do about that?" Sampson asked. Laurens rubbed his temples and closed his eyes.

"I...I have no goddamn clue." There was a beat of silence.

"Are you even going to try?" Lee wondered, crossing his arms. Laurens just shrugged. He certainly didn't want to try today.

"Are you sure you're alright, Laurens?" Burr asked softly.

"Yes. I'm fine," Laurens assured. "Just a little sick"

"And you're sure you can work today-"

"Yes-"

"Guys." Lee was the one to interrupt. "He's clearly upset. Let's leave him alone about it." Everyone stares at him in confusion and shock.

"Since when do you care about how I feel?" Laurens wondered.

"I just assume it must be rough for you." He looked almost sincere.

"...Why?" Lee suddenly smirked darkly.

"Because you look like your little boyfriend Hamilton just broke up with you." Laurens was on his feet so fast that he nearly passed out.

"What the hell, Lee?" Laurens yelled.

"Oh, _sorry_ -"

"No. I'm not dealing with your shit today. Hamilton stays out of the conversation."

"Getting awfully defensive there, aren't you?"

"I thought I told you to shut up."

"I don't remember that."

"Well, I'm telling you now. _Shut up_."

"Why do you keep acting like he's the best thing in the world?"

"I'm not."

"Then why do you always get pissy whenever we talk about him?"

"Because you insult him for no reason!"

"It's not my fault he's not that great. I mean, he got you trapped during your last big mission."

"He also got us out, for your information."

"Really? Wasn't he drugged?"

"Well...yes. But still..."

"Uh-huh. And how, exactly, did he help you escape?" Laurens halted.

"Uh..."

"That's actually a good question," Burr pointed out. "Weren't you trapped in a closet?" Laurens' face grew warm.

"W-Well...he, uh...his plan was...complicated...It's hard to explain..."

"Explain it anyway," Sampson said. "I wanna know, now, too."

Laurens took a deep breath and sat back down. "Okay. You know that stupid-and I mean _really_ stupid-cliché in spy movies, where, the, um, the main characters are trapped, and to, you know, make the enemy ignore them, they, uh, they kiss?" By this time, Laurens was bright red. He felt more sick than ever, although he wasn't sure if that was caused by his withdrawals or not.

The funny thing was, Laurens had never even seen a movie before.

When Laurens realized that his fellow captains were still staring at him, silent, he continued, "Right, well, Hamilton was, of course, drugged off his ass, so he wasn't really thinking... _straight_...and he...yeah..."

Laurens sat awkwardly in the silence that followed.

"Ho-ly shit..." Sampson gaped at him. "Are you serious? You _kissed?_ "

"It's not like I wanted to," Laurens hurried to explain. "He never even told me what his plan was. He just did it, and I was forced to play along."

"You still kissed," Lee said. "I bet you liked it, too."

"I had to _act_ like I did, but I can assure you, I didn't." Laurens had to focus all of his small amount of energy on not stuttering.

"But you still-"

"That's enough, Lee." Burr raised his hand to quiet the other captain. "We've already established that the events of that mission were needed for escape, and were not based on affection."

"Have we _really_ established that?"

"Yes. Can we please get back to work, now?"

Lee crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair, huffing and blowing his hair out of his face. He grumbled out, "Fine."

"Thank you. We still need to talk about how the Thirds knew we were at the casino so quickly, or at all."

"Simple. They saw Laurens and recognized him."

"But that seems _too_ simple," Sampson countered. "They were _too_ prepared."

"Maybe they were planning to attack us instead of the civilians. They said they wanted info, didn't they?"

"How could they have executed their plan without knowing that we would be there in the first place?" Burr asked.

"Well, I don't know." Lee shrugged, frustrated. "Maybe-"

"Oh, stop dancing around it," Laurens said, attempting to rub the exhaustion out of his eyes.

"What?"

Laurens sighed. "We all know what the answer is. We just don't want to say it. We don't want to believe that it's true."

"What are you talking about?" Sampson wondered.

"What other reason could there be?" No one answered him. Laurens sighed again. "Guys...there's a spy."

Still, nobody spoke. The silence was tense.

"It makes sense," Sampson finally said, her voice quiet. The other captains nodded solemnly.

"But...who is it?" Burr asked.

"And that's our new question," Laurens stated, dropping his head into his hands.

"Well, fuck," Lee exclaimed. "It could be anyone."

"Yes, it could."

"Should we tell people?" Sampson asked.

"No. Only the general. If this got out, it could do more harm than good."

"So we're just going to let this slide?" Lee scowled.

Laurens didn't even look up as he responded. "No. We just can't have the entire facility in panic. We need to weed out the spy ourselves. Raise security, too."

"That could take too long, though-"

"Listen, I'm trying, okay?" Laurens was a bit surprised by how small his voice sounded. "This...this is complicated. It's difficult. It's...really, really bad. And scary. And stressful. And...A-And-"

"Laurens?" He looked up at Burr's voice, finding that his vision was blurred for some reason. "Laurens, you're shaking."

"I-I'm...f-fuck..." Laurens really was shaking, but he tried to stand up, anyway. He wanted to leave. He was too stressed for this. He couldn't do this. He couldn't-

"Laurens?" Burr and Sampson stood up quickly, and even Lee seemed to look somewhat sincerely concerned. The room began to sway around Laurens...or maybe it was just him.

"I can't...fuck...I can't..." Laurens' words were quiet and slurred. He heard people calling his name from far away, felt a whooshing of air around him, and then his world went dark.


	15. Chapter 14: To Fight or Not to Fight

Laurens was confused when he woke up, to say the least. He didn't remember coming to the infirmary before he fell asleep, but it was where he woke up. In fact, he didn't even remember falling asleep at all. The last thing he could recall was saying that there was a spy during his meeting, then...nothing...

Laurens was exhausted, as well, and his head was throbbing. Still, he sat up in the cot and rubbed his eyes. The lights were too bright in his opinion, but it was thankfully very quiet. As he was groaned and wondering what had happened, his sister walked in.

"Good afternoon, Laurens," E greeted with a smile.

"Afternoon?" Laurens muttered. "But-"

"You passed out during your meeting this morning. Burr and Sampson brought you here. Said you had been acting weird." As E spoke, the memories came flooding back to Laurens' mind.

"Oh."

"Care to explain why that happened?" E quirked an eyebrow and placed her hands on her hips.

"Um...I think I've gotten a collective five hours of sleep in the past three days." This was a lie, of course. Laurens had gotten a collective eight hours of sleep in the past three days. He just needed an excuse that would keep his sister from knowing that he was off his meds, and it seemed to work.

"What?" E gasped. When Laurens just shrugged, E pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. "So, you're telling me that you've gotten an average of about, oh, 1.7 hours of sleep a night for three days, and you thought you'd be perfectly fine to work?"

Laurens shrugged again. "I had a lot to do."

"You're an idiot," E sighed.

"Thanks for reminding me."

"Let's just get you some medicine, okay?"

"Fine." E walked to the other side of Laurens' bed, where a tall, glass cabinet stood against the wall. She opened it and swiftly took out a few different pill bottles. She tossed the bottles to Laurens, who caught and opened them. He took some medicine out of each and swallowed them dry. While he did this, E stepped up to him, pressing the back of her hand against his forehead.

"Hm...99.7. Well, as long as you get some rest, your temperature should go all the way down back to normal, and-"

"E, I don't have time to rest. I have to-"

"Nope. You're going to stay here until I deem you well. And for God's sake, get some sleep." E gently patted Laurens on the head before leaving the room.

Laurens sighed when his sister left. It was beginning to dawn on him that he maybe shouldn't have given up his medication, possibly. He hadn't known that withdrawals could make him pass out. But...no, he was sure that that had mostly been caused by his lack of sleep from the previous night. He was sure he would be fine, now.

Still, Laurens figured he might as well humor E; he didn't need his nicest sister to be mad at him. He laid back down on the cot and held his hands behind his head. He wondered how many people knew that he had passed out. He wondered if Hamilton knew...

He hoped not. Laurens did not want Hamilton worrying about him, making sure he's okay. That was Laurens' job. He was supposed to be the one who watched over Hamilton, kept him safe, took care of him, and...why did he care? It wasn't like he _liked_ the new boy or anything.

Yet, that burning sensation had already filled his stomach again. It blossomed and flourished the more Laurens' mind wandered around Hamilton. He couldn't help it like he used to, and it pissed him off. It wasn't like he _wanted_ to think about how good Hamilton was at fighting, or how smart he was, or how his smile made Laurens want to smile, too. It wasn't like he _wanted_ to think about how hot-no, cute-no, impressive Hamilton's determination was. It wasn't like he _wanted_ to keep imagining that kiss over and over and _over_. It wasn't like he _desperately wanted_ a kiss like that to happen again.

He felt like he was going insane.

Laurens rolled over, burying his face in the pillow. Sure, Hamilton wasn't _that_ bad, but if he was causing Laurens all this pain, he should be hated...right? Laurens didn't know anymore. For so long, he could have sworn this feeling inside of him was hatred towards Hamilton, but now he wasn't so sure. He recognized anger well, and this wasn't it. This was something different, new, and considerably more frustrating. He swore, the next time he saw Hamilton, he would beat the boy up or yell at him for making him feel like this.

Someone knocked on the door. Laurens sat up as Mulligan walked in. He looked shaken up and anxious.

"Hey, Mulligan," Laurens said.

"Uh, hey, Laurens," Mulligan greeted, awkwardly fiddling his fingers.

"Um...you good, man?"

"Yeah, yeah. Just, uh..."

"What?"

"Um...there's something you need to see."

"What? What is it?"

"Well, Laf and I were training with Hamilton, and then Lee showed up, and, um, they, uh, they're fighting, now."

Laurens shot out of bed, ignoring the pain. " _What?_ " Mulligan opened his mouth to talk, but Laurens shook his head. "Take me there. Now." Mulligan nodded and led Laurens out of the infirmary and to the training field.

"There." Mulligan pointed to the center of the field, where a circle of people had formed. Most of the noise was coming from the center of the circle, where two specific voices were yelling at each other. Laurens and Mulligan headed towards the crowd, but stayed in the back. "Should we stop them?"

"Hang on," Laurens said, watching the argument in front of him.

"...don't know what you're talking about!" Hamilton was saying. "For the last time, I was _drugged_!"

"That doesn't mean shit, Hamilton," Lee said. "You still did it. You should know that those kinds of things aren't allowed here."

"How? It's not like anyone told me. Besides, because you're clearly deaf and stupid, I'll repeat it: I. Was. _Drugged_."

"Yeah, just because you came up with some stupid plan."

"Stupid?"

"Yeah, stupid. Unless you're so dumb that you don't understand complicated words like that."

"Excuse me?" Hamilton clenched his fists and stepped forward. "Did you just call me dumb?"

"Yup. You're probably not even that good at fighting, either." Lee smirked.

"I bet I'm twice as smart and skilled as you are," Hamilton retorted.

"You want to try to prove that?"

"Sure. Right now. Let's go." Hamilton got into a fighting stance.

Before anything could go further, Laurens pushed through the crowd, calling out, "That's enough."

* * *

Alexander already thought that Lee was an asshole, but to call Alex dumb was crossing the line. He was about two seconds from decking Lee in the face when someone pushed through the crowd, yelling, "That's enough."

It was Laurens. _Shit_.

Alexander didn't know if Laurens had been avoiding him for the past few days or what, but whatever had happened over those few days had made Laurens look awful. He looked terribly exhausted, with dark circles around his eyes. He was pale and sickly looking, yet still absolutely menacing in the way he glared at Alexander and Lee.

"Laurens, perfect timing," Lee smirked. "I was just about to show this dumbass what happens when-"

"Don't call me that!" Alexander yelled.

"I'm just trying to tell the truth."

"The _truth?_ What-"

"I said, _enough_." Laurens stood between Lee and Alexander, shifting his gaze between the two. "What the hell is wrong with you two?"

"Be careful, Laurens," Lee said. "All that anger might make you pass out, again." Alexander turned to Laurens in confusion and worry, wondering what Lee had meant.

"Stop changing the subject, you asshole." Lee just rolled his eyes at the insult. "You are not a child. You are a captain. Start acting like one."

"I am. I'm just trying to enforce the rules here. You're the one acting like a child with your stupid puppy love." Laurens' face flushed red with rage, assumedly. He held his fists at his sides, and Alexander stepped back slightly, fearing Laurens' hands wouldn't stay down much longer.

"You can't just try to fight someone over something like this."

"Hamilton was the one who wanted to fight."

"You led him onto it."

"You're leading him on, anyway-"

Laurens smacked Lee across the face, the loud _crack_ echoing through the field. His voice was low as he said, "Go find something better to do instead of being a fucking idiot all the time." Lee rubbed his jaw and glared at Laurens.

"Something's up with you, Laurens. Either figure it out and stop it, or I'll do it for you." Lee shoved his way through the crowd of people, leaving angrily. Laurens huffed when Lee was gone, repeatedly clenching and unclenching his fists. Alexander saw this as a sign of Laurens calming down, so he hesitantly stepped forward.

"Thanks for backing me up, Laurens-"

"Just because I think Lee is a stupid asshole, that doesn't mean I'm backing you up about this."

"What?"

"You were acting just as immature as Lee was, you know."

"I...what?"

"You can't just try to fight someone because they question your strength and intelligence."

"Oh, my-you can't seriously be saying that to me. You do that all the time." Laurens seemed to hesitate.

"I am a captain. You are supposed to listen to me."

"I'm not going to do that if your plans are always utterly terrible." Laurens was fuming now.

"What is with you trying to pick fights all the time?"

"It's not my fault everyone keeps trying to piss me off."

"But it is your fault that you're getting so pissed off in the first place. Infighting is not allowed here."

"Did you think I thought it was?"

"Well, you do it so often-"

"Oh, my God. You are such an asshole sometimes. I don't know why I...why I even bother tolerating you."

"Maybe because it's what you're supposed to do with people you don't like."

"No, I think I'm just going to keep calling you an asshole, instead."

"You just can't take a break on acting like a piece of shit, can you?"

"Well, you can't, either, apparently."

"What have I done that made me an asshole to you?"

"Oh, I don't know. Beating me up, maybe."

"I was training you."

 _Funny_ , Alex thought. _So was my dad._ "That's no excuse."

"It kinda is. It just proves that you get way too upset over things you don't understand."

"So what? I'm allowed to feel things. It's not like I'm not going to get upset just because you tell me not to. It's a basic human thing that happens a lot, especially in a place like this, where people are constantly being horrible to me."

"Actually, no. In a place like this, you _can't_ get so pissy about things. It leads to bad decisions, like you fighting over fucking nothing."

"Why don't you just stay out of my fights? I'll deal with things how I want to, and you-"

"No, you won't." Laurens' voice grew louder than it already was. "You want to know why? It's because you are in an _army_ ," Laurens stepped closer, "you are fighting a _war_ ," he got closer, "not your stupid personal battles!" Laurens shoved Alexander's shoulders, causing the boy to stumble and fall onto his back.

Alexander lay there in shock for a moment, while Laurens turned around, his body stiff with anger. Alex glared at Laurens' back and stood up. "Why do you act like you would die for this agency?" Laurens started to walk away, but froze at Alex's words. The silence of the crowd around them became tense.

"Why do I act like I would die for this agency?" Laurens quietly repeated. He slowly turned to face Alexander, fire in his eyes. He stepped closer, his voice louder, now. "Why would I _die?_ Because I _have_. _Four_. _Fucking_. _Times_." Alexander just stared at him, confused and terrified. Laurens was closer than ever, now. All Alex could see were the freckles on Laurens' cheeks and the flames in his hazel eyes. Laurens spoke quietly, "And I would gladly do it again, even if it means saving your stupid ass." Laurens pushed Alexander again, but the boy stayed on his feet this time. Alex just stood there while Laurens began to walk away. When Laurens walked next to Mulligan and Lafayette, he stopped, telling them, "Make him run until he passes out." Mulligan and Lafayette glanced at each other as Laurens started to leave again.

"No," Lafayette said. Apparently, they had been built without the concept of fear. Laurens spun around, glaring at the robot.

"What did you say to me?"

"No," Lafayette said again. "You are essentially telling me to torture him. I will not do that."

Laurens stepped towards them. "You will do what I tell you."

"No."

"Yes, you will." Laurens reached out a hand, aiming to touch the back of Lafayette's head. However, Lafayette's arm moved faster than humanly possible-which actually made sense-and grabbed Laurens' forearm, stopping it from moving any farther.

"No, I will not." Laurens and Lafayette stood like this for a moment, staring each other down. Then, Laurens reached into his pocket with his other hand, taking out something that looked kind of like the sonic screwdriver from _Doctor Who_. The end of it flickered with a bright blue light, but the light disappeared when Laurens jabbed the device against Lafayette's stomach.

Alexander had assumed that Lafayette was unable to feel pain, yet what happened next looked like it hurt.

The moment the device touched Lafayette, their eyes widened and flashed a red light. All at once, Lafayette's entire body jolted, their limbs and head shooting in different directions. Sounds came out of their mouth, but their lips didn't move. Probably because the sounds were more like alarms and muffled, glitchy words like "warning" and "malfunction". It looked like a scene from a violent, futuristic exorcism.

It took Alexander a second to realize that getting electric shocks to the stomach might be bad for a robot.

Despite what had just occurred with Laurens, Alexander sprinted forward and pushed Laurens away from Lafayette. Alexander punched Laurens in the stomach, but that just made the captain try to go after Alex with the taser. Alexander dodged the swinging arm and punched Laurens in the face as hard as he could with his left hand. Apparently, the hit was harder than what Alex was expecting, and it caused Laurens to spin from the force. Alex took the time while Laurens was stunned to grab the taser-thing away.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Alexander shouted. "You yell at me for fighting over little things, and then you do the same exact thing. And it's not like I tried to kill my teammate!" Alexander pointed back at Lafayette, who was now on the ground, their fingers twitching, one of their eyes rolled back in their head, and a small amount of smoke streaming out of their ear. Laurens stayed silent. A strange look filled his eyes as he looked at Alexander. "You can't just do this to someone who's on your side. You don't deserve to be a captain if you act like this all the time." Laurens just stared at Alexander, that weird look in his eyes seeming stronger. His eyes flicked over to Lafayette, then the crowd around him, then back to Alex.

"You're right," Laurens croaked out, his voice quiet. Alexander was surprised to hear that, to say the least.

"What?" Laurens didn't answer. He just hurriedly pushed through the crowd, his head hanging. The people around him just gaped in shock. Alexander looked down at Lafayette, then back up at the crowd. "Everyone, get back to your training. Go find something to do." When no one moved, Alex yelled at them louder, "Go! Now! Move!" Everyone was startled back into reality, and they quickly scattered, but not before most of them have Alex a dirty or surprised look. The boy just sighed, kneeling down next to Lafayette. They were completely still now, more smoke billowing out of their head. Mulligan was still standing there, as well, concern covering his face.

"Jesus Christ..." Mulligan muttered. "P is going to be so pissed."


	16. Chapter 15: Three Years Old

Alexander and Mulligan hurried through the facility, the broken Lafayette in Mulligan's arms. The entire walk to P's workshop, Alexander couldn't help but wonder what was wrong with Laurens. Sure, it made sense that Laurens would be mad at him, but that wasn't what was worrying him.

It it was the look that had been in Laurens' eyes. That swirl of emotions that Alexander had seen. He recognized the look well. It was a mixture of deep sadness, fear, anger, and confusion, yet also with a hint of passion and care. Alex wasn't completely sure why Laurens would feel some of these things, but he was determined to find out.

For now, however, he had to deal with P.

Alexander knocked on the door to P's workshop, his knuckles hitting one of the little yellow stars. From inside, P's voice shouted, "Fuck off."

"P, it's an emergency," Alex said.

"I don't care. I'm busy."

"It's Lafayette," Mulligan yelled. The door was open within three seconds. P stood there, worry on her face. The panic seemed to grow stronger when her eyes landed on Lafayette.

"Get them on the table." P let Mulligan and Alex in, making sure Lafayette was carefully lain down on the work table. She ran up to the table, pulling her goggles over her eyes and putting on her gloves. It took some work, but P managed to open the panel on Lafayette's neck. Smoke burst out of the cavity, making P gasp and cough. She waved the smoke away, then took a flashlight out of her tool belt, shining it into Lafayette. She muttered obscenities as she opened more panels across Lafayette's body and looked into them. "Shit." P went back to her desk of supplies, searching for something. She clearly didn't find what she wanted when she said, "Fuck. Dammit."

"What is it?" Mulligan wondered.

"All of their wires are burnt out and I don't have enough extras to replace them all," P explained. "I can't get more until the next supply run, which is in a week. This means we won't have Lafayette if we need them for the next few weeks. Which means that if something big happens, our best fighter will be out of commission. Which means-"

"P. I'm sure nothing too big will happen for a while. We can just send more people out on missions instead of them."

P rubbed her temples, unknowingly spreading grease on the sides of her head. Her panic seemed to turn into frustration and anger. "How did this happen to them?" Mulligan glanced at Alexander.

"Well..." Alex cleared his throat. "Laurens was arguing with me, and he was really upset, so he told Lafayette to make me run for a long time, but Lafayette refused, so Laurens used this on them." Alexander took out the taser-like device and showed it to P. Her eyes widened at the sight of it, and she quickly snatched it away.

"How did he get this?"

"I don't know."

Alexander watched curiously as P went over to part of the wall across the room. She pushed on part of the wall, and a screen and some small equipment came out of the wall. The screen scanned her fingerprints and eye, and the equipment pricked her finger for blood and recorded her voice as she said, "Schuyler." A different part of the wall slid open, revealing a safe. P turned the combination several times, then pulled the safe open. She gasped quietly when she saw that it was empty.

"What?" Alexander asked. "What is it?"

"This safe is supposed to have five prototypes in it," P told him.

"But it doesn't." P was silent for a moment, glaring at Alex. "Oh. That's your point."

"Yeah, dumbass." P held up the taser. "This is one of them. If Laurens had one, he probably has the others. I just don't know when he would've gotten to them, or how, or why..." She turned to Mulligan. "He's on his pills, right?"

"Um...as far as I know," Mulligan answered.

Alexander grew nervous. He knew for a fact that Laurens wasn't on his pills. Alex had taken them. If this was a big problem..."Pills?" Alexander asked, pretending to be oblivious.

"Antidepressants," P responded. "He really needs them." Alex's mouth went dry.

"What would happen if he wasn't on them?"

P sighed and began to fidget with some parts on her table. "Well, when he wasn't on them last time, he was depressed all the time, obviously. He would always question himself about things. He...he would get really irritable at small things, which could easily explain why he would do this to Laf..." P frowned deeply. "He also...he can get suicidal and try to hurt himself, which would explain why he took my highly dangerous prototypes..." P stopped fidgeting, dropping the tiny metal cat she had been subconsciously building. It landed on the floor and walked away. P stared at Alexander and Mulligan in fear. "Where is he?"

Mulligan shrugged. "He had stormed off. We were too busy with Laf to see where-" P pushed past Mulligan.

"We have to find him." P ran out into the hall, and Alexander and Mulligan were forced to follow her. They all hurried to the surveillance room where A was. The girl nearly choked on the carrot she was eating when the other three burst into the room.

"Does no one ever knock around here?" A shouted, but she was ignored. P ran up to the cameras and looked through them intensively. "What are you-"

"Where's Laurens?"

"Laurens? Why-"

"I don't think he's in his medicine anymore." The panic on P's face was reflected on A's.

"I'll check." P continued to scour through the camera feeds while A closed her eyes to do the same.

All the while, Alexander was worried out of his mind. He should have known Laurens had those pills for a very good reason, and he should have known not to take them away. In fact, he did know those things; he had just disregarded them. Now, he feared, it would be his fault if Laurens did anything to himself. Alexander was sure it hadn't helped when he had fought Laurens over nothing earlier.

"I don't know where he went," A said, interrupting Alex's thoughts. She opened her eyes, then stepped towards P, who was leaning against the desk, staring at the cameras, seemingly holding back tears.

"We _have_ to find him," P mumbled. "I can't...I don't want to bring him back from this again...I shouldn't have to bring him back...I already saw him dead five times. I'm _not_ doing it again." P slammed her fist on the table, making a cup of coffee tip over. No one paid attention to it.

"Wait...five times?" Alexander questioned. "I thought he said it was four."

"It was five. He's really reckless in battle and...he doesn't like to talk about one of them..."

Alexander remembered when he hadn't wanted to talk just days before. That had been the start of it all, along with his stupid childish crush. He had almost confessed to Laurens when they were on the roof...

"I think I know where he is," Alexander stated.

P turned to him. "Where?"

"I...I'll go get him. I need to apologize, anyway." Before anyone could respond, Alexander ran out and headed up to the roof.

Even while outside, Alexander couldn't tell where the facility was. All he knew was that it was in New York, because the city skyline could be seen in the distance. Looking off at the skyline was Laurens, who sat on the edge of the roof, just like Alex had done before. Alexander walked up to Laurens as silently as he could. Without saying anything, Alexander sat next to Laurens, gazing at the city from afar.

"It's a beautiful city," Alexander said softly. "Especially at night." Laurens was silent, but nodded a bit. Alex shifted uncomfortably. "Um...I'm sorry about earlier. And about...well, lots of things. I shouldn't have taken your medicine. You clearly need it more than I do. I'm sorry about fighting with you all the time. I'm sorry for...for so much." Laurens didn't even look at him. "Your sisters are worried about you, you know. I think they figured out that you aren't taking your medicine anymore."

Very faintly, Laurens whispered, "They aren't my sisters." Alexander looked at Laurens. The captain had been crying, and seemed about to do so again.

"I thought they were."

"Not technically. We were all adopted. None of us are related." Laurens hesitated. "My parents never had any other children."

"...Your parents?"

"Yeah. Did you think I didn't have any?"

"Well...I don't know. You've said you've been here since you were three, so I assumed you were an orphan, I guess."

Laurens sighed. "You aren't wrong. They both died the day I was brought here."

"Oh. Were they attacked by Thirds or something?"

"Or something." Alexander was about to ask what he meant when Laurens continued, "I wasn't supposed to be born. I don't know how I remember so much, but from what I remember, my mom said she had hooked up with some guy and ended up pregnant with me. She loved me, though, and I loved her. She took care of me as much as she could, and we were pretty happy with our lives, for the most part.

"But...there was a day that she took me out-well, a night, actually. It was so dark and hot... She told me that she wanted to try to find my dad. To this day, I have no clue how or why she thought she knew where he was, but she was determined.

"She had to keep telling me to be quiet, because I kept complaining about how hot it was. I didn't know why she wanted me to be quiet so much until I got older and realized that she knew that there was a silent fight going on around us.

"We ended up in an alleyway. She was in the middle of telling me to stay put when someone else showed up. A Third, I later found out. What I found out right away, though, just by looking at him, was that he was my father."

Alexander held back a gasp. He couldn't imagine having a Third as a parent.

"My mother started arguing with him immediately," Laurens went on, "saying that he had a responsibility, now. That he had left her alone with a child. _His_ child." Laurens scowled. "I knew that something was wrong, even when I was so young. But Mom just went on and on to this man, not even noticing that he was holding a gun.

"It might have been dark, but the gun was still shiny when he shot it at her." Laurens went quiet for a while, but Alexander understood the look in his eyes. He understood that Laurens wanted to say that it was absolutely terrifying to see your mother get shot and die right in front of you when you're only three years old. Alexander understood the pain and scarring that must have been caused. The tears and blood and screams that were in Laurens' mind, but that he couldn't express out loud. It took him a while, but Laurens eventually spoke again, quietly saying, "I couldn't do anything but sit there next to my mom-or, her corpse...my father was staring at me, but I didn't care. He pointed his gun at me, but I didn't care. I heard another gunshot, but I didn't care.

"Until I realized that I wasn't the one who had gotten shot. The Third who was apparently my father had fallen over, bleeding just as much as my mom. I had gained a parent and lost them both within five minutes. Someone else walked up next to me. A man in all black."

"General Schuyler," Alexander guessed. Laurens nodded.

"He was really nice and he said he would help me, so I went with him. He brought me here, and here I stayed. The general became a father to me. A new, better father. He took care of me and taught me everything I know. When I was eleven, he went on a mission and came back with three little girls. They became my sisters, and he took care of them, too.

"I guess I had always been kind of depressed, but the feeling never fully set in until I joined Squadron Black at fifteen. I just started to feel worse as the years progressed, but I was never really sure why.

"Then...the general died during a mission when I was sixteen. P had figured out how to do prosthetics, but she couldn't bring people back yet. I guess losing a third parent was the straw that broke the camel's back. I was suddenly the captain of Squadron Black, even though I was completely unprepared. It was unbelievably stressful, and it just added to my already strong depression. I only made it another year before...before I...I jumped off the roof."

Alexader recalled when he had asked if anyone had jumped off the roof before. "That was you?"

"I don't like talking about it."

"But...I thought you said that P hadn't figured out how to bring people back, yet."

"She hadn't when General Schuyler died, but she had been experimenting for a couple years. She just hadn't tested her experiments on anyone before...before me. P was so upset over my death that she refused to let me die at all. I was mad at her for bringing me back when I woke up, but I knew I shouldn't have been.

"I got reckless in battles after that, letting myself get killed four times over the years. E got me on antidepressants when she figured out what I was doing. They helped, for the most part, but then...I gave them to you..."

"You shouldn't have done that," Alex said. "Why did you do that?" Laurens looked at Alexander for a moment, a strange look filling his eyes, once again.

"I don't know, Hamilton. I honestly don't fully know. I just...ever since you got here, my mind's been all fucked up. You've made me think about things...things I really shouldn't be thinking about. Every time I see you or talk to you, I get this weird burning feeling inside me. I thought it was because I hated you, but...now I have a different theory..." Alexander waited to hear it, but Laurens didn't expand.

"Um...what's your theory?"

Instead of explaining, Laurens softly said, "That feeling hurts so much whenever it shows up. It's hurting me right now. The only time it went away, or felt good, was...was when you kissed me." Alexander blinked. Then, his eyes widened in sudden understanding.

"Oh, my god..."

"I don't like being confused or unsure, Hamilton. So, when you started making me feel like that, I got mad at you. I hated you for it, yet...I couldn't hate you at all...because...even though you made me hurt, you somehow made me feel so good..." Laurens faced Alexander again. "And I didn't know how..." Alexander met Laurens' eyes.

"Do you know, now?" Laurens just gazed at him for a moment.

"I...I think so..."

Alexander didn't realize how strongly he felt until right now. Alexander didn't realize how close Laurens was getting until all he could see were Laurens' eyes. Alexander didn't realize that Laurens was reaching out until he felt Laurens' hand in his cheek. Alexander didn't realize that Laurens was intending to kiss him until their lips were pressing together.

Alexander's eyes fluttered closed as Laurens sighed against his lips. Alex wondered if the firey passion he felt inside of him was the same thing that Laurens felt. Unfortunately, Laurens pulled away far too soon, making Alex pout in disappointment.

"We can't do this," Laurens muttered. "There's rules against this. If we get caught-"

"Then we won't get caught," Alexander suggested. "We'll just hide it. Act like we have been. Only do things like this in places where no one can see."

"Your plans are always too risky."

"Just because they're risky doesn't mean they won't work."

"Hamilton."

"Laurens."

Laurens sighed. "This is so dangerous..."

"I thought you liked being reckless."

"Just to stop my pain."

"Didn't you say that kissing me did that?" Laurens opened his mouth to retort, but nothing came out. Alexander smirked. "Checkmate." Laurens rolled his eyes

"Oh, shut up." Laurens leaned forward and kissed Alex again, making them both go silent. Alexander wrapped his arms around Laurens' neck and kissed him harder, moving his lips in time with Laurens'. Alex pushed again Laurens so much that they both nearly fell off the roof. They decided that was a good time to stop.

They helped each other up, holding hands for a moment. They were quiet for a minute, but Alex finally asked, "How are you feeling?"

Laurens shrugged. "Better, I guess."

"I'm going to give you your medicine back. You need it more than I do, and I don't feel much different with them."

Laurens frowned slightly, but nodded. "Okay."

"Let's get back inside. Your sisters will want to see you. But I think P might try to kill you for what you did to Lafayette..."

"Yeah, probably. There's two big rules here: No relationships and no fucking with Lafayette." Alex laughed a little, making Laurens smile faintly.

Alex rested a comforting hand on Laurens' back. "Laurens, I like you a lot." Laurens' smile grew along with the pink on his cheeks.

"Okay." Alexander led Laurens off the roof and back inside. They went to the surveillance room where A, P, Mulligan, and now E were waiting. As soon as they saw Laurens, the worry on their faces melted away and they ran towards him. Everyone was talking at once, so Laurens tried to quiet them by loudly saying, "I'm fine. I'm okay." Still, his sisters were asking him a million questions. "Guys, seriously, I'll be fine." Laurens glanced at Alexander, who smiled.

A abruptly stopped talking, seeming to be listening to something. The others noticed this and finally quieted down. A paled slightly and looked at Laurens. "You'd better be okay, now," she said.

"Why?" Laurens wondered. "Is something wrong?"

"I guess that's for you to find out."

"What?"

"The general wants to talk to you," A tensely told her brother. "Now."


	17. Chapter 16: Good Kid

Mulligan had once told Laurens that being called to see the general was a lot like being called down to the principal's office. Laurens had never been to school before, so he didn't get the joke, but when Mulligan had described how nerve racking it was, Laurens finally understood.

Yes, Laurens was nervous, but, no, he wouldn't let it show. He held his head high as he headed to the general's office. He caught people staring at him as he walked past them, but he didn't look at any of them. As the American flag painted door grew closer, Laurens' anxiety grew stronger. He stopped in front of the door, took a deep breath, and knocked.

"Sir?" Laurens called out. "It's Laurens. You wanted to see me?" The door slid open as a response. Laurens walked in, then realized that Lee was there, too, standing in front of the general's desk. The door menacingly closed behind Laurens.

"Laurens," General Washington greeted. He sat back in his chair, his hands folded on his desk. His face showed no emotion, which scared Laurens even more.

"General," Laurens replied. He nodded and stepped up to the desk, holding his hands behind his back, staying as far away from Lee as possible.

"Lee has told me about some...interesting events that have taken place today."

"I'm sure he has." Laurens shot a glare at Lee, who smirked darkly.

"Would you care to explain some of them?"

"That depends. What has Lee already told you?"

"Well, he has told me that you fainted during your meeting this morning, got in an argument with Hamilton, and tased Lafayette, apparently."

"And," Lee added, "that Laurens loves Hamilton-"

"Lee." The general lifted a hand to silence the captain. He did so at the perfect moment, too, because if he hadn't, Laurens would have hit Lee again. "We will get to that later. For now," Washington turned to Laurens, "why is it you passed out this morning?"

Laurens swallowed. "I haven't gotten much sleep for the past few days, and I was stressed out at the meeting. That's all, Sir."

Washington raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, Sir."

General Washington seemed to think for a long while. "Laurens, are you still on your medication?"

Laurens' body stiffened, his face becoming warm. He hated when people asked him about this. It was bad enough that everyone in the facility knew about it, but the fact that they felt the need to ask about it all the time really set Laurens off. Of course, he couldn't yell at the general, and he couldn't lie either, so Laurens stayed silent for a little while.

"Laurens-"

"Sir, I'd rather not talk about this with Lee here."

The general nodded. "Lee, you are dismissed."

"What?" Lee complained. "But-"

"Go." Even Laurens was intimidated by the general's tone. Lee scowled at Laurens, then begrudgingly saluted General Washington before he turned and left.

"I hate that guy," Laurens muttered.

"He can be...frustrating at times," Washington agreed. "But that's not important right now. Are you on your medication or not?" Laurens stayed silent, looking away. He wished there was a window he could look out of, but all he saw was a white wall. "Laurens. It's a simple question."

Laurens sighed. "I...I've been off them for a few days." Washington's face filled with disappointment, which made Laurens tense up in shame.

"Laurens-"

"I'm getting back on them today. I'm fine, anyway."

"The reason you're on the medication in the first place is because you aren't-"

"I'll be fine."

Washington sighed deeply. "Fine. What is this about you fighting Hamilton and breaking Lafayette?"

"I... apologize for doing that to Laf, really. It was completely uncalled for and horrible." While this was true, Laurens had to wonder how Lee even knew about this in the first place. Maybe Lee just hadn't left the training field, but maybe word had spread. Laurens hoped it was the first option. "As for Hamilton, Lee was provoking him and they almost fought. I had to reprimand both of them, and...I got a bit carried away..."

"If what I was told is correct, you got more than carried away."

"I..." Laurens stared at the floor and scuffed his shoes on the floor. "I suppose so. I apologize."

"I am not the person to apologize to."

"I know, Sir. Hamilton and I already spoke with each other."

"Good. I know you're a good kid, Laurens. You always have been. There are reasons why you're the leader of our best squadron. They're the same reasons your father cared for you so much."

Laurens' chest tightened. Now was not a good time to bring up his father. Now was not a good time to compare Laurens to the one person he aspired to be. "Thank you, Sir."

"Now, these types of things better not happen again, understand? I have to go on a mission with squadrons red and blue next week, and I don't want to hear about you fighting when I get back."

"Yes, Sir. I won't...you're going on a mission?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Sir, there's something you need to know."

"What is it?"

Laurens took a deep breath. "This morning, during our meeting, we determined that the Thirds have a spy somewhere in our facility."

General Washington was silent for a few moments. He leaned forward a bit, lowering his voice. "Do you know who they are?"

"Unfortunately, no. We will start searching immediately-"

"Do you have any suspicions?"

"I..." Laurens hesitated. "Yes, honestly. Lee. But I'm biased." Washington's eyebrows furrowed. He frowned, staring ahead. "...Sir?"

"I will investigate this further. I'll keep track of everyone during this mission. We'll need to keep a closer eye on everyone in the facility from now on. We will have a meeting to discuss this more after the mission."

"Yes, Sir."

"Who else knows about this?"

"Just the other captains."

"Okay. I will talk to your sisters. They can help with surveillance."

"What will we do with the spy once we find them?"

Washington met Laurens' eyes. "I don't know."

Laurens gulped.

"Thank you for telling me this, Laurens," Washington said. "You can leave, now. Get some sleep, and for God's sake, take your medicine."

"Yes, Sir."

"No more fights."

"No more fights. Right." Laurens saluted half heartedly and moved towards the door.

"Keep being a good kid, Laurens."

"I'm an adult, Sir." Laurens sighed. "But...of course." Laurens left the room, the American flag getting farther away as he walked down the hall.


	18. Chapter 17: Hacked

**_One week later..._**

As far as anyone else knew, Alexander and Laurens were getting along more because Laurens was on his medication again. However, the two of them knew that there was more to their relationship, now.

Alexander and Laurens were certainly much closer to each other, now, and not just because they knew about each other's pasts. They began to train together more often, always giving each other encouragement and usually ending spars with one on top of the other. They started to talk more often, and even ate together sometimes.

"What do you mean you've never had pizza?" Alexander nearly shouted.

"I don't know. What is it?" Laurens asked.

"What is it? It's amazing!"

"Seriously, Hamilton, what is it?" Laurens gave a cute, confused smile.

Alexander stood up for a moment, looking at the kitchen-like area in the mess hall. "Do you not have an oven here?"

"No."

Alex sighed and sat back down across from Laurens. "Okay, well...it's this type of bread with tomato sauce and cheese on it, and sometimes some other stuff."

"That sounds gross."

"It's not!"

"Also unhealthy."

"Says the guy who eats chips and chocolate when no one is looking."

"Well, if you know about it, then I clearly need to hide it better."

"Everyone knows."

"Well...shut up." Laurens crossed his arms. Alex brushed his leg against Laurens' under the table, making the man blush.

"I think you would like pizza," Alexander said. Laurens shrugged.

"Maybe."

And this was how many of their days went. Their closeness did not go unnoticed, of course. Mulligan pointed out how they were fighting less. The sisters said that Laurens looked a bit better, already. Even General Washington said he was glad all was well between them just before he left on his mission.

Alexander found out that when the General went on a mission, it was a big deal. The entire facility was buzzing all day, much more than usual. Alexander noted that everyone seemed excited and happy as they went about their day.

Laurens had told Alex to meet up with him in the evening, so Alexander did just that. He walked to Laurens' room, smiling down at the little turtle in the corner of the door. Alexander knocked, and the door opened for him. He stepped inside, and the second the door closed behind him, he was pushed against the wall with Laurens' lips on his. Alexander closed his eyes and kissed Laurens back, wrapping his arms around Laurens' neck. It was a good ten seconds before Laurens pulled away.

"Nervous?" Alexander guessed.

"A little bit, yes," Laurens answered.

"Why?"

"General Washington is going on a mission."

"Why does that make you nervous? I thought it would be exciting. Your leader going out and doing something incredible; isn't that a good thing?"

"Yeah, but..." Laurens paused. He looked like he was debating whether or not to say something. He apparently settled on "I don't know. I'm always nervous when people go on missions."

"Even when it's Lee?"

Laurens laughed a little. "That's debatable." Alex giggled quietly.

"Did you just want to see me to kiss me?"

"No, but would you mind if I did?"

Alexander shrugged. "What'd you need me for?"

"You'll see." Laurens kissed Alexander again, then stepped away. They both straightened out their shirts and waited until their faces weren't flushed anymore. Then, Laurens opened the door and led Alex out to the surveillance room.

For once, A wasn't eating when Alex and Laurens walked into the room. Instead, she and P were plugging various wires into the monitors on the wall. E and Captain Sampson were also in the room.

"What's going on?" Alexander wondered aloud. Everyone turned to him.

"We're going to watch the General's mission," P answered.

"Why?"

"We leaders of the facility like to watch his missions to learn from the best," Sampson said.

"Why'd you bring Schoolboy?" A asked as she put on a headset.

"He's new," Laurens replied. "He has potential. I want him to learn, too."

"As long as he doesn't mess with any of my stuff," P grumbled. All of a sudden, four monitors lit up blue, white text on each reading, "Waiting..." P picked up a tablet and began to rapidly type things into it. Alexander turned to Laurens, but he had moved into the corner to talk to Sampson.

"How are you doing?" Alex jumped when E was suddenly next to him. She looked at him with her gentle gaze never wavering.

"Um...I'm doing alright," Alexander replied. "Why?"

"I'm the head of the medical department. It's my job to know."

"Well, I'm okay."

"That's good. I'm glad. I'm also glad you and Laurens are getting along."

Alexander forced himself not to react suspiciously. "Yeah. He's not so bad. And I feel bad for him. I understand him in a way, now." E raised an eyebrow.

"Do you, now?"

"I...yes, I think."

E hummed in thought. "Alright."

Just then, the blue screens all flickered on, all showing a dark cityscape.

"Drones," P said before Alexander could ask. "Eyes in the sky."

"She actually put glasses on them," E whispered. Alexander chuckled. The drones began to fly, following two trucks down the street. Laurens and Sampson stopped talking and moved closer to the screens to watch the mission.

Alexander was eventually filled in on what the mission was. The General, Squadron Red, and Squadron Blue were going to infiltrate a small base for the Thirds-well, the Kingsmen, technically. No one answered Alexander when he asked if the Union took the Thirds prisoner.

After a while, the trucks stopped, and everyone inside filed out. General Washington, Burr, and Lee led everyone down the street, then hid behind the side of a building. A few people waved up at the drones. Washington waved everyone forward, and they all rushed towards the next building over. The cameras showed them take down the four Thirds guarding the entrance, then most of them ran inside.

Alexander felt something brush against his hand, and looked over to see Laurens standing close to him. His expression was strained and his body was tense. Alex gently touched John's hand and focused on the screens again.

Some of the screens had changed to a view from a body camera. They showed the members of the Union entering the Third's hideout and fighting. Honestly, Alexander was getting bored. He looked at the others in the room, instead. A and E were watching the screens as if they showed a television show. P was staring at her tablet, occasionally tapping it. Sampson looked just as tense as Laurens. Alexander caught them glancing at each other.

Five minutes went by, and the mission seemed to be going well. And then those five minutes passed.

"What the hell?" P began to tap at her tablet faster, her eyebrows furrowing.

"What is it, Magnets?" A asked.

"It's not...I'm losing control of the drones."

Alex saw Laurens tense more out of the corner of his eye. "What do you mean?" Laurens asked.

"I-" The screens that showed the drone cameras began to show static, instead. The drones flew in strange directions.

"P, what's happening?"

"I don't know." P sounded terrified. The other cameras were static, now, as well. P was panicking, typing on both the tablet and the keyboard. Sampson looked at Laurens with wide eyes.

"It's just the cameras malfunctioning," Alex said, trying to put everyone at ease.

"My inventions don't just malfunction," P retorted.

The screens turned red.

"Red?" A thought aloud.

"Red," Laurens whispered, as if confirming something other than the color. "A, get in contact with them. Ask them what's going on."

A nodded and spoke through her headset. "Captains, General, how are you doing? We're getting some weird feedback through the cameras." A was quiet for a minute. "Hello? Can somebody answer, please?" She went silent again. "Nothing but static."

Laurens swore. "We need to talk to them."

"I know." P was desperately trying to figure things out on her tablet, but nothing seemed to be working.

Alexander discreetly touched Laurens' arm. "Laurens, what's happening?"

"I..." Laurens shook his head.

P screeched. She dropped her tablet onto the desk. It showed jumbled words and flashing colors. "I think I'm being hacked," she said, "but no one should be able to do that..."

Sampson turned to Laurens. "Do you think it's-"

"It has to be," Laurens muttered.

"What?" P asked.

Laurens hesitated. Because he did, everyone heard the sudden noise that came from one of the cameras. P hurried to make the noise clearer. Alexander heard unintelligible shouting and gunshots. Too many gunshots. And a single voice. A man saying, "Backup." The sound went to static and cut out again.

Sampson and Laurens were already rushing out of the room. "Hamilton," Laurens called out, "let's go." Alexander jolted and followed Laurens.

When Alex caught up, he asked, "What's happening?"

"I don't know," Laurens responded.

"Is everything going to be okay?"

Laurens swallowed. "I don't know."


	19. Chapter 18: Here Comes the General

Alexander heard the carnage long before he saw it. Gunshots went off two a second, causing Alex to tense up. Luckily, he was sitting shoulder to shoulder with Laurens, which calmed him down somewhat.

Speaking of Laurens, the man was fidgeting quite a bit, biting his lip and bouncing his leg incessantly. He kept glancing at the doors of the truck. He stood up before the vehicle stopped, but still managed to keep his balance when it did. He made sure his guns were loaded for the fifteenth time that night, then threw the doors open and jumped out. Alexander and the rest of the squadron filed out and followed their leader as he ran towards the fighting. Sampson and Squadron White appeared next to them.

There must have been a hundred Thirds against about thirty members of the Union fighting outside the building. Alexander guessed the numbers were about the same inside. He could count twenty people dead in his first glance, which certainly didn't put him at ease.

Laurens sprinted ahead, seeming to shoot his guns without bothering to aim. He was, of course; he was just that good. Alexander tried to stay close to Laurens as they entered the battle. People were running all over the place, shooting their weapons and getting shot over and over and over. Alex tried not to shoot that much, although it was difficult for him to keep his finger off of the trigger when he saw a flash of red appear next to him.

"Lee?" Alexander gasped. The captain was bleeding out of his arm, his eyes were wide and sharp, and he was sweating buckets. Laurens turned at the sound of the name.

"Lee, what happened?" Laurens shouted over the gunfire.

"We were ambushed," Lee responded. "There were so fucking many of them. We tried to call for backup, like, twenty times."

Laurens' eyebrows furrowed. "Where are Burr and the General?"

"Inside, last I saw them."

Laurens nodded. "Tell everyone to retreat. I'm going to find the General." Lee and Laurens nodded at each other, then Lee ran off into the crowd. "Hamilton, come on." Laurens rushed off towards the building, and Alexander followed closely.

There were less people inside, but Alex didn't pay attention to that that much. He just tried to focus on not getting shot and following Laurens. The building was like a maze, with someone around every corner. Anytime Laurens saw someone from the Union, he told them to grab anyone else they could find-dead or alive-and retreat.

Alexander saw something blue behind a table. He nudged Laurens who hurried to see who it was. When they looked behind the table, they saw Burr, slumped over and breathing lightly.

"Burr," Laurens said, trying to wake the man up. He did after a minute of being shaken. "Burr, we're retreating. Come on." Burr nodded, and Laurens helped him up. Alexander let the captain lean against him. They started to walk away, but Laurens moved the opposite direction.

"Laurens, where are you going?" Alex asked.

"I'm going to find the General."

"We don't have time. We need to leave."

"I have to find him."

"Laurens," Burr quietly coughed out, "if he's alive, he'll know to retreat."

"And if he's not?"

"Someone else will find him, I'm sure," Alexander said.

"What if no one does?"

"Laurens-" Alexander heard several sets of footsteps coming from where Laurens wanted to go. He reached out and grabbed Laurens' arm. "I'm not letting you go. We need to leave, now."

Laurens bit his lip and glared at Alexander, but sighed and grumbled, "Fine." He held onto Burr's other side, and they hurried outside.

When they got to the trucks, they helped Burr inside, then Laurens stared at the building. Alexander touched his hand. "We have to leave. I'm sorry." Laurens clenched his fists and huffed, then quickly jumped into the back of the truck. Alexander copied the action, then they closed the doors behind them.

* * *

 ** _One week later..._**

Things had been tense ever since the mission. People were barely talking. Alexander spent much of his time in Laurens' room, trying to keep him calm.

Eventually, Burr and Lee called for an assembly to talk to everyone about what happened. Everyone gathered in the mess hall, nervously standing around. Lafayette was awake and standing next to the sisters, who were sitting at a table, asleep on each other's shoulders. They had been working nonstop during the past week. P and E had been bringing people back to life and healing their injuries. A had been leading part of the facility in a search for anyone who hadn't been recovered from the mission. Including the general. Lafayette woke the girls up when Lee and Burr stood on a table at the front.

"Attention, fellow members of the Union," Burr began. "We have called you all here to inform you of what happened during the most recent mission." Although he was speaking loudly, his voice sounded solemn and weak. "We had been anticipating around one hundred Thirds at their hideout, but we were ambushed by an estimated one hundred more. We were unprepared and not capable of completing the intended mission. We had also been informed that P's equipment had somehow been hacked into, so no one here had been able to see or hear what was happening in the field."

Burr was quiet for a moment. "Seventeen people are still missing...including the general. Although we have found three people during our searches this week, there has been no sign of our leader. Due to this, we will need a replacement leader, at least until General Washington returns, if he does at all." Lee crossed his arms and looked off to the side as Burr continued. "This new leader must be someone we can trust. Someone who has been working here for a long time, and who has already been in a place of higher ranking for a while, as well."

Burr cleared his throat, looking almost anxious to say his next words. "After reviewing the rules and putting this through a great deal of thought, it has been determined who this new general must be." Lee sighed and shook his head as Burr revealed, "The new leader of the Union is to be...Laurens."


	20. Chapter 19: A Spy on the Inside

Laurens was unprepared. He flinched when Burr had said his name, announcing him as General. Laurens' breath caught in his throat. The other captains had been trying to talk to him all week, but he had avoided them. They had wanted to talk about this, didn't they? He should have known. When General Schuyler had died, the leader of Squadron Black had replaced him. That was the rule. Laurens felt so stupid. He couldn't be the General. He was incapable of having that kind of power. He didn't know what to do with it. The captains were right. He couldn't lead the entire facility.

While Laurens was having his anxiety attack, Hamilton lightly touched his arm. "Laurens?" Hamilton whispered, "I think they want you to say something."

Laurens looked up. Burr and Lee and everyone else was staring at him expectantly. "I..." Laurens' face flushed. He quietly apologized, turned around, and ran out of the room.

"Our brave leader," Laurens heard Lee saying. Soon after, he heard Hamilton shouting.

Laurens hid in his room and attempted to contemplate what was happening. There was too much. Hamilton walked in a few minutes later.

"Hey," Hamilton greeted softly. Laurens just nodded. "How are you doing?"

"I can't be the General," Laurens responded.

"Of course you can. You're a wonderful leader."

"It's too much pressure. It's too much."

"I'm sure you can handle it."

Laurens shook his head.

"It'll be okay."

"I...I have so much to do already. New leaders and missions and...god, too much."

"The other captains can help you. I can help you."

Laurens met Hamilton's eyes. "You don't deserve to be here."

"I know. But no one does."

"God, no."

"But we still have a duty to do. You especially."

"Since when have you felt like you had a duty here?"

"Since I decided I wanted to leave."

Laurens laughed a bit. Hamilton wrapped his arms around Laurens' shoulders.

"And since I decided to let myself care about you. Once you started being nice to me."

"Yeah. Sorry." Laurens stared down at his hands.

"It's fine. You were just frustrated with yourself. I understand." Hamilton had started to massage Laurens' shoulders. Laurens leaned into the feeling.

"There's so much I need to do."

"One at a time. What do you need to do first?"

"Call a meeting, probably. For the captains. Figure stuff out."

"Okay. Let's go do that, huh?"

"I...I feel like I can't move."

"It'll be okay. You can do this. Just put on a brave face. It'll fool your brain if need be."

Laurens exhaled. "Alright." He stood and Hamilton followed. They kissed softly, then left the room together. When Hamilton began to walk in the opposite direction, Laurens grabbed him by the arm. "You're coming with me."

"Why?"

"Because I want you to."

"Okay."

Laurens brought Hamilton to the meeting room, then gathered everyone else he would need. The captains and the sisters sat around the table, and Lafayette stood against the wall. Laurens stiffly sat at the head of the table, and Hamilton awkwardly sat next to him. No one spoke for several minutes.

"What is he doing here?" Lee growled.

"And we're off," Laurens muttered. "Besides that, there's some things we need to figure out now that...that General Washington is missing."

"I'd still like to know why he's here."

"He's here because I want him to be, okay, Lee? Does that satisfy you?"

"Him being your boyfriend doesn't mean-"

Laurens slammed his fist onto the table. "You start that shit today and you aren't a captain anymore, got it?"

Lee rested his arms behind his head and kicked his feet onto the table, smirking. "Already abusing your power, huh?"

Laurens snarled, but E cut in. "Lee, stop it. He's clearly stressed. You can't use that for your amusement." Lee rolled his eyes but stayed quiet.

"Thank you, E," Laurens said. "Now, we need to figure out what to do next. We definitely have to retry the most recent mission."

"Why?" Lee asked. "We were ambushed. The mission failed."

"That's exactly why we have to retry, Lee," Laurens said as if Lee was a complete idiot or a three year old. "We know the position of one of their hideouts; we can't pass up information like that."

"Okay, well, we should probably figure out who the new captain of Squadron White is, first."

"I..."

"He's right, Laurens," Sampson said. "We all have to move up. We need a new captain before we can do anything else."

Laurens bit his lip. "I...I want to change the rule."

"What?" Lee yelped. "Laurens, you can't-"

"Yes, I can, and I will. I trust literally everyone in this facility more than you, Lee. I don't want to risk putting the wrong person in too high of a place of power, especially with what's going on right now."

No one spoke for a moment.

"You think I'm the spy." Lee crossed his arms and clenched his jaw.

Hamilton whispered a "What?" as Laurens retorted, "Plenty of people agree with me."

"Well, I don't trust you, either."

"And why is that?"

"You've been talking about being General for years. You're finally here. I bet you're real excited about that."

"I'm not the spy."

"How do I know that?"

"I've been here since I was three."

"So, however long you've been here shows how loyal you are. Sure. That means Hamilton's the spy-"

"Don't even insinuate that."

"Why not? It's not like you've known him all your life."

"I was in the mission that found him. You weren't."

"That doesn't mean anything."

Laurens and Lee were standing now, glaring at each other. "You can't just blame him because you don't know him."

"If you really know him that well, then I'm not wrong about your relationship am I?"

Laurens was about to lunge forward when Burr stood between him and Lee. "Captains," Burr snapped. He looked at Laurens and hesitantly corrected, "General. This is not how we should be discussing this. Shifting the blame away from yourself and pointing fingers like this will do nothing."

"So are you shifting the blame by acting like the good guy?" Lee countered.

"Of course not. What reason would I even have for being a spy?"

"You were in college and had a girlfriend before you came here. Also, every week, you go out to get supplies. A perfect time to sneak around with some Thirds."

Burr gaped at Lee, clearly offended. "I'm always with people from my squadron, and we always return at the right time. And plenty of people here were in school or had significant others. You did, too."

"You actually cared about your girlfriend."

"Rude," A muttered across the room. Lee turned to her, now.

"You could be the spy, too."

A laughed. "Yeah, okay. You know what? Just go around the room and explain how everyone besides you is the spy."

"Fine. You've got the camera feeds in your head. You could lie about if any Thirds got in and who knows what else." Lee turned to Sampson next. "Sampson seems like the kind of chick to think she should have more power just because she's a girl."

"I'm a woman," Sampson corrected, "and it's more like I just think I should be higher up than you, because you're an ass."

"That, too." Lee glared at E. "You're way too nice to not be suspicious. P can build all those weird inventions that can do God knows what. She could be using them to communicate with the Thirds, then kill us."

"If I wanted to kill you I would have done it by now," P grumbled.

"And what about Lafayette? P probably programed something into him that can-"

"What the fuck did you just call them?" P yelled.

"He's just a toy you built to-"

P lunged at Lee, a monkey wrench suddenly in her hand. She screamed obscenities and struggled in Lafayette's grasp. They had quickly grabbed P's arms and had almost no trouble holding her back. Lee was shouting right back at her. Sampson and A were trying to silence them. E, Burr, and Hamilton stayed silent.

Laurens was clenching his fists at his sides, his head clouding in the chaos. He knew he wouldn't be able to handle all this stress. He couldn't take it as well as the previous generals could. He tended to either collapse or explode.

" _Shut up!_ " Apparently, this was an explosion scenario. The room quieted at his shout. He snarled at Lee. "This is why I don't trust you to do anything. You always start shit like this and I makes us completely incapable of getting anything done. This is why I'm making Hamilton the leader of Squadron Black, instead."

The silence grew heavier. Everyone stared wide-eyed at Laurens for seconds that felt like hours.

"Laurens." Hamilton's voice was quiet, but was filled with a certain sting.

Laurens regarded Hamilton. "What?" Hamilton was still sitting calmly in his chair. He looked up at Laurens through his loose hair, his eyes flaming. The chair creaked across the floor as he stood. Laurens was more than a little shocked when Hamilton grabbed him by the shirt collar and dragged him out of the room and down the hall.

"What the hell are you thinking?" Hamilton growled when they stopped. "You can't just make me a captain. Especially not of the best squadron."

"Why not? I trust you," Laurens argued.

"You shouldn't. I don't know how to do anything here. I don't know how to lead a mission like that.

"Sure you do. You did before."

"I was just spiting you."

"Hamilton, I know you can handle it."

"Laurens, I've barely been here long enough to know what you people do. Why not pick Mulligan? He's been here way longer? And why not just give Squadron White a new captain like you're apparently supposed to? That'd be better."

"I don't want Lee to be-"

"God, you're an idiot, Laurens."

Laurens would be lying if he said that hearing that from Hamilton didn't sting.

"You can't just..." Hamilton groaned softly and ran his hands down his face. "Did you do this because of our relationship?" He whispered.

"...Partially."

"See, okay, this is why relationships aren't allowed here. They can lead to dumb decisions like this if you don't know how to work them."

"My choice stays the same. I will go on every mission with you to help."

"That doesn't change the fact that this is the most stupid thing you could have done."

Laurens lost his voice. "Hamilton-"

"I'm sorry, Laurens, but you can come talk to me once you figure out something better." Hamilton spun on his heel and stormed off, his fists clenched tightly.

Laurens took a step forward, then a step back. A shadow formed on his face as he went back to the meeting room. He knocked on the door and shouted, "Meeting dismissed." The other leaders of the facility filed out. Burr, A, and Sampson were first, all looking ashamed and disappointed. E and Lee came next, the former trying to look over a bump on the latter's head. Lafayette followed, deliberately keeping space between Lee and P, who was wiping off the end of her wrench. She stopped when she saw Laurens.

"I need to talk to you," the girl said.

"Okay," Laurens answered. "Now, or-"

"Can you give me back my prototypes, now?"

"What prototypes?"

"The ones you stole from me when you were off your meds?"

"Didn't Hamilton already give it back?"

"Yeah, one of them. I need the other four."

"I didn't take the other four. They were still there when I took the taser one."

P gulped. "Shit."

"I don't know anyone else that could have gotten into your safe."

"Neither do I," P said, giving Laurens a pointed glare. "I have to rebuild it."

"Well, I'm sorry. But I didn't take the other prototypes."

P sighed. "That means it's-"

"The spy."

P pinched the bridge of her nose, shaking her head. "We need to find that person soon, Laurens."

"I know."

"Because if we don't," P continued, "I don't know how much danger we're all in."

* * *

 **Hey, by the way, if you ever see me use the wrong name (someone's first name instead of their last or initial; he instead of they, etc.), please, please, please let me know. I'm used to writing different things in every other story, so I'll slip up sometimes, but I'll always want to correct myself. So just comment if you see that something like that is wrong. Thanks. Love you.**


	21. Chapter 20: Try, Try Again

**So excited about these next two chapters but I keep trying to write in first personnnn. Thanks to the person who corrected me.**

* * *

Alexander wasn't angry with Laurens, per se, just extremely frustrated. He couldn't refuse to go on this mission, unfortunately. So, he went to bed early, but didn't get much sleep.

Laurens woke Alex up at one in the morning. Alexander glared at him.

"You're still angry with me," Laurens observed.

"Frustrated," Alexander corrected.

"Okay." Laurens sat on the edge of the bed, chewing his lip. "You know I didn't mean to stress you out, right?"

"Yes," Alexander sighed. "But that doesn't mean I'm not."

"I know. But I know you can handle it."

"Damn right I can."

Laurens smiled slightly, but the smile quickly fell. "We have to get going."

"Right." He got out of bed and pulled his hair up into a tight ponytail.

"I hope you won't be mad at me for too long."

Alexander didn't look at Laurens. "I have to get ready."

"Yeah. Okay." Laurens hesitated, but eventually stood and left. Alexander got dressed, then left his room, finding Laurens waiting in the hall. "Are you excited?" Laurens asked. Alexander glared at him again. "No? Okay, then."

They walked to the prep hall in silence and gathered their supplies the same way. Role call went smoothly. Laurens and Lee made small speeches. Alexander did not. He sat across from Laurens in the truck, but did not talk to him. Instead, Alex spoke to Mulligan loud enough for Laurens to hear.

"It should have been you," Hamilton said to Mulligan, voice flooded with passive aggressiveness. "You've been here for years. You're so good at fighting and stuff." Alexander grinned proudly when Laurens turned his head down.

Alexander finally talked to Laurens when the truck stopped. "So, if there's a spy," Alex whispered, "wouldn't the Thirds know that we're coming again?"

"Doesn't matter," Laurens responded. "We can still win. The British knew that the Colonies were fighting with less people, but America still won."

"The British surrendered because the war was wasting their time and money."

"Whatever, Schoolboy." Laurens tried to hide a smile.

Lee split his squadron into groups of two, three or four, and Laurens had to do the same for Squadron Black, because "I still don't know who works the best together, unlike literally everyone else." Laurens just ignored the statement and led Alex, Lafayette, and Mulligan to the side of the building.

They snuck in through a window. Alexander and Laurens were fairly small, and Lafayette could practically become a contortionist, so they made it through easily. On the other hand, Mulligan was bigger, so they rest of them had to wait for him to crawl through the window. They all tiptoed down the dark hallway, avoiding Thirds the whole way. When they came to a split in the path, Laurens told Mulligan and Lafayette to go the other direction.

Once he and Laurens were alone, Alexander said, "You know, if you had chosen someone else, you probably wouldn't even need to be here. They could lead the squadron on their own."

Laurens sighed. "You really need to get over that," he whispered, peering around a corner.

Alex rolled his eyes. "Fine. What are we even supposed to do here?"

"Take the place down. Or at least find some information or someone who can give us information."

"Okay."

They stopped at the first door they came across and Laurens kicked the door open. It was a storage closet.

"Incredible," Alexander gasped. "You brave man."

"Shut up." Laurens looked around the small room. "Maybe there's something in here."

Alexander pulled half of a rifle out of a cardboard box. "I doubt it." He looked up, seeing Laurens in a red jacket. "What are you doing?"

"It doesn't fit." Laurens took the jacket off and grabbed a stack of papers. "These have to be important, right?"

Alex stood behind Laurens, peeking over his shoulder at the papers. "Just payments. Lots of payments."

"Guns, ammo, clothes, food." Laurens flipped through the pages. "Wait, look. A shit ton of explosives. They spent more money on that than food last month."

"What are they using it for?"

"I don't..." Laurens flipped to the next page. "What the...it's an interview transcript. King himself and...the other name's redacted."

"What's it say?"

"'Why do you want to help us?'" Laurens read. "'The Union is a failure waiting to happen. They took me away from my entire life, and I want revenge.' 'How do you plan on doing that?' 'By joining you.'"

"It's the spy," Alexander pointed out.

"We need to bring this with us." Laurens folded the papers and shoved them in his pocket.

"Looks like it's good you beat up that door."

"Shut up, Hamilton." They smiled at each other. "We have to move on. Let's go." They snuck back out to the hall. Alex's earpiece crackled and someone spoke to him.

"Um...Captain...?"

Laurens nudged Alexander. "They're talking to you."

"Oh." Alexander listened closely. "What...What is it?"

"We found this room..." The person said. "You should come check it out."

"What's in there?"

"Just...get over here."

"Why don't you just tell me-"

"We're in the South hall." The voice cut out.

"Jesus Christ. Thanks for nothing, dumbass."

"You just need to assert yourself as their captain," Laurens said. "They don't know your bad side."

"Maybe you should have made someone else the captain, then. Someone who they already know the bad side of."

Laurens sighed. "You're just as bipolar as me sometimes, you know."

"I'm allowed to be mad about your dumb decisions."

"Listen, now isn't the time to talk about this."

"Well, you never let me any other time."

"Hamilton, seriously."

"Laurens, you can't just assume that all your ideas are good ones."

"Neither can you."

"My ideas are perfectly fine."

"Really?"

"Sure. It's the people getting in the way that are the problem."

"Oh, I'm just in the way, now?" Laurens stopped walking, facing Alexander with hurt in his eyes. Alexander stammered.

"No, not necessarily. I just...I'm just frustrated."

"Yeah, with me."

"Laurens-"

"Hamilton, shut up."

"Don't tell me to-"

Alexander heard a sickening _thud,_ then Laurens collapsed onto the floor, unconscious.

"Laurens?" Alex gasped. He knelt down and shook Laurens' shoulders. His stomach swirled in panic. "Shit, no, no, no, fuck." Only then did Alexander realize that something had knocked Laurens unconscious. Alexander shot up, looking around, getting in a fighting stance over Laurens' body. He heard footsteps behind him and turned around. "You? Really?"

"Howdy," Jefferson smirked as he turned the corner. "Y'all are dumb."

"Did you get more Southern?"

"I need you to go to sleep with your boyfriend here."

"Fight me and we'll see who goes to sleep."

Jefferson giggled like he was insane. "You and your boyfriend are very easily distracted, aren't you?"

Alexander didn't have time to react. Someone grabbed him from behind, covering his mouth and nose with a cloth. Alex had already gasped before he could process the idea of chloroform. Jefferson grinned at Alexander as his vision grew blurry, his struggling becoming weaker. _No, no, no, shit, shit, shit, hold your breath, hold your breath, don't do this, don't be a failure again, don't fail him again, don't, don't...don't...don't..._

* * *

Alexander sputtered and coughed, trying to shake the water off of his face. He tried to wipe his eyes clear, but he couldn't move his hands from behind him. He finally opened his eyes, looking around the room. He was tied to a chair by his ankles and wrists. There was another chair next to him, and in it was Laurens, still unconscious. Across the room was a Third who was carrying a bucket of water. He poured it on Laurens' head. The boy started awake and went through the same process as Alexander.

The Third left the room, and Laurens turned to Alexander as much as he could. "Hamilton? What happened? Why..."

"I'm sorry," Alex whispered. "I fucked up the mission again. I shouldn't have...God, I'm so sorry."

"It...it'll be okay. We'll get out of this."

"How?"

"We can call for backup?"

Alexander shifted in his chair, feeling if he had any weapons still on him. "Laurens, we don't have anything."

Laurens sighed quietly. "Shit..."

The door opened. Jefferson walked in. "Hello, Dears," he drawled. "Glad you could join us."

"Are you just assigned to me?" Laurens asked with a scowl.

"You interest me in a way," Jefferson shrugged. "Now, I'm sure you know why you're here."

"You want information, probably."

"Correct. Good job." Jefferson clapped a few times.

"We aren't going to talk. Doesn't matter what you do."

"Oh, _I_ won't be doing anything to you. I have enlisted a friend of mine to interrogate you. I have a feeling you'll really like him." Jefferson gave Alexander a pointed look. "Oh, Maddie!" Jefferson's friend walked in, the bartender.

"I'm not interested," Alexander said.

"Oh, Madison isn't your interviewer." Jefferson smirked. Madison was leading someone else into the room. He was an older man with dark, slick hair and a scraggly beard. He had dark eyes that narrowed upon seeing Alexander, who sucked in a breath when he saw the man.

"Dad?"


	22. Chapter 21: Wasn't Around

"You're supposed to be dead," Hamilton whispered, gaping at the man he had called Dad. He suddenly screamed, " _You're supposed to be dead!_ " He struggled in the chair, almost knocking it over. Laurens' eyes darted between the two, finding some physical similarities. If this man was really Hamilton's father...if Laurens and Hamilton got out of here, blood would be spilled.

"The hell are you talking about?" The man grumbled. His voice was rough and low.

"You killed my mother!" Hamilton stared wide eyed at his own knees, quietly saying, "You made me kill her..."

" _What_ are you talking about?" Hamilton's father asked again.

"You don't remember me, do you?" Hamilton laughed hysterically. "Why would you? Why would you remember your _child_ who you abused for half his life?"

His father paused. "You."

Hamilton looked dumbfounded. "You. _You?_ That's all you have to say to me you fucker?"

"What the fuck do you want me to say you little shit?"

"Goddamn fucking _anything?_ "

"Hamiltons, Hamiltons," Jefferson interrupted. "Please, put your family ties aside for a moment and get to work. I didn't bring you in here to argue, did I?"

"Now is not the time for your stupid fucking interview!" Hamilton screamed. Laurens winced.

"My, God..." Jefferson turned to Madison and muttered, "It's worse than I thought."

"Would you rather do this yourself?" Madison asked.

"No. This could be fun." Jefferson turned back to Hamilton and Laurens. "Alright, boys, here's the deal. Maddie and I are going to go out there and watch from the window. You three have a nice little chat about The Union. Bonus points if you make it entertaining."

Hamilton's father rolled his eyes. Hamilton shouted, "Untie me and I'll make it entertaining for you."

Jefferson giggled. "I'll consider it." He headed out, with Madison close behind him and grabbing his hip. Laurens raised an eyebrow, but didn't have time to think about it.

"What are you going to do to me this time, you bitch?" Hamilton asked his father. The man ignored him and turned towards a table against the wall. "You're a coward, you know," Hamilton growled. "A fucking coward. A disappointment to every event that led to your birth."

"I taught you how to do everything," his father responded. "Without me, you would be nothing. You wouldn't exist."

"Good! Anyone would be ashamed to be created by you." Hamilton's father didn't reply. Hamilton scoffed and looked at Laurens. "Laurens, please, meet my father, James Hamilton."

Laurens didn't know what to say. He wasn't even entirely sure he could speak at all.

"Is this where you've been all this time?" Hamilton questioned his father. "This is why you disappeared and left your child alone?"

"You still don't shut the fuck up do you?" James snarled.

"You can try to make me."

"Did you just forget about all the things you were whining about? All the things I did to you? Now, I get to do worse."

"Do it, then. I'm not scared of you."

James stepped away from the table, holding a blow torch. Hamilton smirked and sat up as straight as possible, prepared. James reached back and untied one of Hamilton's hands. Hamilton immediately tried to swing at his father, but his arm was held still. James held the torch against Hamilton's hand, but Hamilton gave no reaction. It took Laurens a second to remember that Hamilton's left hand was fire proof, now.

"Try harder," Hamilton sneered. His father did not hesitate to move the flame to Hamilton's jaw. Hamilton cried out from behind his gritted teeth. Laurens clenched his fists behind his back, desperately wanting to fight. When James pulled the blow torch away from Hamilton's face, Hamilton weakly grinned, regardless of his melting skin. Laurens caught sight of Hamilton's now-free hand fidgeting behind his back.

"Hey," Laurens called out, catching James' attention. "Aren't you supposed to be interrogating us? Not just hurting us for no reason."

"This isn't usually my job," James said. "That ass isn't even doing his job properly. He just wants to watch something entertaining."

"Let me go, then," Hamilton yelled.

"No."

"Why not, you coward?"

Laurens sighed. There was no way this could end well. One of the Hamiltons would probably end up dead, and who knows what would come of Laurens-

He gasped and shouted in surprise when he suddenly felt a terrible heat on his left ear. He squeezed his eyes shut and tried not to react to the pain. He struggled against his bonds, not too interested in having two fake ears.

"Where's your hideout?" James asked in an uninterested voice.

"You should know, already," Laurens replied through gritted teeth. "You have a spy, don't you?"

"Tell me what you plan to do next, then. The next mission you're going on. Whatever."

"You don't even seem like you want to know." Laurens received a quick punch to the jaw.

"Hey, don't hit him!" Hamilton shouted. "This doesn't involve him."

"Sure, kid." James stayed focused on Laurens. "Just hurry up and talk before I get tired of being here."

Laurens rolled his eyes at the pathetic man in front of him. "I've had worse torture than this and I didn't talk, then. Why would I talk after your lackluster performance?" Laurens was punched again.

"Want something better?" James growled. He put the blow torch back on the table, preferring a meat tenderizer. Laurens looked between it and James, thinking that if he was hit in the head with it at the right strength...

Hamilton was suddenly standing, his left hand launching towards his father's face. James managed to dodge, then tried to hit back, but Hamilton was faster. He sidestepped around his father and jumped to reach high enough to put his father in a headlock. Laurens watched the men struggle for a few moments before James' movements began to slow. The lack of oxygen finally got to him, causing him to faint. Hamilton freed his father, letting him collapse onto the floor. When Hamilton looked at Laurens with his signature determined expression, Laurens released a breath he didn't know he had been holding.

"Hamilton..." Laurens whispered. Hamilton stepped over to him and started to untie his bonds. "Hamilton, is he really your-"

"He's gotten less...interested in his will to do anything," Hamilton said. "He used to be able to break me with one punch, simply because he put feeling into it. I don't think he cares about hurting me, anymore."

"He went down easy," Laurens mentioned.

"He was always weak."

Laurens' hands were free, now, and he frowned while he rubbed at the bruises that the ropes had made on his wrists. Hamilton started to untie Laurens' ankles.

"Are you alright?" Laurens asked softly.

Hamilton paused and looked up at Laurens. "No." He stood and stepped over to the table of torture weapons. "Considering Jefferson hasn't tried to stop us, yet, I'm assuming he wants more of a show." Hamilton tossed a gun to Laurens and grabbed one for himself. "Let's give him one."

"What are you planning?" Laurens checked that his gun was loaded.

"Well, for one, we're bringing this asshole-" Hamilton kicked his father in the stomach, "back to the Union with us."

"We have to figure out how to get out of here, first."

"Just run until we find an exit." Hamilton picked up the rope. "Help me tie him up-"

The gunshot made Laurens jump out of his skin. The bullet grazed his temple in slow motion. He looked down at James, who was awake and pointing a gun in Laurens' direction. James fired again, but Laurens kicked his arm, so the bullet went into the wall. Hamilton fired at his father but only injured the man's arm, because he was scrambling to stand.

The door flew open. A young man in black stood there, a fight going on behind him. His eyes lit up when he saw Laurens. "General," the man gasped, "Thank God we-" James suddenly sprinted for the door, pushing past the Union member.

"No!" Hamilton screamed, running after his father. Laurens hurried to go after him, but the other young man stopped him.

"Laurens, what happened?" The man asked.

"We got knocked out and taken for questioning," Laurens said quickly, trying to leave.

"We almost left, but we couldn't risk losing two generals that fast. A fight started, though."

Laurens had noticed. All the way down the wide hall, the Union and Thirds were duking it out with their guns, knives, fists, and more. Hamilton was already lost in the crowd. Laurens scowled and moved into the hall, already holding up his gun. He only had a few bullets, now, so he couldn't be too liberal with his shots.

People were shouting all around him, but Laurens realized that he was having trouble hearing out of his left ear. Damn blow torch.

Laurens narrowly dodged a punch to the face, but not one to his chest. Laurens retaliated by punching the Third in the cheek, not caring that they were a girl. Her hair was down-which wasn't very smart-so Laurens grabbed it and pulled, forcing the Third to spin around. Laurens wrapped his arm around her throat and squeezed until she stopped struggling and fell unconscious.

He moved on. He had to move on. Too long in one place could mean loss.

Laurens ran through the crowd, avoiding attacks and slipping between his teammates. As he went by, Laurens asked the Union members if they had seen Hamilton. Most looked at him oddly and said no; they had been focusing on the fight, understandably. But this was important.

After a couple minutes, Laurens was considering giving up. He debated staying with his team to fight, but he couldn't just do that. Not after so recently figuring out how he felt about Hamilton. Besides, if Hamilton was hunting down his father, Laurens had to make sure a homocide wasn't committed.

While he thought about this, Laurens rushed through the building, glancing down side halls, only to find nothing. He had gotten fairly far away from the fight, now, the sounds of battle echoing quieter. As that noise faded away, a new one emerged. Two sets of footsteps running down a hall, and a voice, Hamilton, shouting angry obscenities.

Laurens bolted towards the sound, coming to an intersection. Before he could determine which way to turn, someone rammed into him, sending them both to the floor. Laurens gasped and went to punch Hamilton's father, but the man had already stood and started running again. Laurens began to get up, but Hamilton ran past and pushed Laurens down, again. Hamilton hadn't even seemed to see him.

"Hamilton," Laurens called out. He received no response. The Hamiltons were getting farther and farther away by the second. Laurens had to catch up. He scrambled to his feet and rushed forward, already starting to make up ground.

Unfortunately, just a few seconds later, Laurens watched James Hamilton turn and shoot at his son.

The bullet missed Hamilton.

But it didn't miss Laurens.

A searing pain tore through Laurens' torso, the force of the shot knocking Laurens backwards. He stumbled, then fell, clutching his chest. The bullet had gone in right below his sternum, he figured. It had also travelled at an angle, if the blood filling his lungs was any indication.

Laurens coughed violently, blood spurting out of his mouth. His overflowing lungs were suffocating him. The amount of blood spilling out of his body and onto the floor was enough to make his head grow light. He coughed more as he tilted and lay on his side, too weak to even attempt to stand. The walls slowly spun around him.

He gave up trying to stop the blood loss, instead deciding to reach his blood soaked hand towards the end of the hall, where Hamilton had disappeared around a corner. Laurens tried to call out, but could only cough, again. Hamilton wouldn't have heard anything, anyway; he was no longer there.

Laurens was dying. He could easily recognize the feeling. His vision was darkening rapidly. He was too far away from the rest of the Union, and couldn't call for help, anyway. Laurens could only lie there, immobile, as the silence caved in on him. He usually didn't die alone.

His breathing had come to a complete standstill. He could only cough up more blood. Each tremor of his body pushed another wave of that deep red liquid out of his bullet wound. Too much too fast; too bad to live.

Even as he faded away, Laurens thought about other things. About how his team would fare if they didn't find him in time. About how if they don't, the Thirds would be one big step closer to winning. About how Hamilton was off on his own against his father, who could potentially get help from other Thirds to do...who knows what terrible things to Hamilton. About Hamilton in general. About how Laurens might not be able to see Hamilton again if something went wrong. About Hamilton's smile.

And that was the last vision that passed through Laurens' mind before the world went dark and disappeared entirely, taking Laurens with it.


	23. Chapter 22: Domestic

**Just some fluff to make up for how long this took. Also, I wrote most of this on my phone, but for some reason, my phone is having trouble writing on the site, so please excuse any minor mistakes. Thanks. Love you all.**

* * *

He was floating between being asleep and being awake. Except being asleep was actually being dead, and being awake was actually being alive.

Laurens had felt this several times, before, and he hated it more each time. A few people believed this feeling was like a breath of fresh air. Laurens just believed it felt uncomfortable. Completely empty lungs suddenly filling with air was painful, not refreshing. Nerves reigniting and the brain coming back on; it was a constant, annoying vibration. The regaining of life is pointless if you have died five times, already.

Well, six, now.

Laurens lay still as his senses returned, but it wasn't like there was much else he could do. First always came the sounds. A heart monitor, the buzzing and clanging of machines, the warped words of someone nearby. Next were smell and taste, oddly enough. The smell of oil and the occasional bout of smoke that would fill P's workshop; the coppery taste of dried blood in Laurens' mouth that hadn't been fully cleaned out. Fourth was touch. He could feel the wrinkles of the sheet above him and the cool, hard, metal table beneath him. The stiffness of the pillow under his head. The soft fingers brushing against his forearm. Sight always came last.

Laurens' eyes slowly cracked open, but only a millimeter or so before they closed, again.

"Laurens?" Someone whispered. Such a familiar voice...

Laurens fell asleep, again. When he woke up for the second time, he was able to open his eyes a bit more. Two people were talking.

"Listen, kid, it's going to take some time," a girl's voice said. "Reviving someone is hard."

" _Kid?_ " The familiar boy's voice sounded greatly offended. "I'm two years older than you. And how much more time? It's been a week, already. Everyone's starting to come to me for information, and I don't know how to deal with that."

"You tell them to wait. And you can wait, too."

Laurens fell back asleep.

The familiar voice was singing, now. It woke Laurens up the third time. The lyrics were in Spanish, but Laurens understood them.

 _"Let's go in the garden..._

 _You'll find something waiting..._

 _Right there where you left it..._

 _Lying upside down._

 _When you finally find it..._

 _You'll see that it's faded..._

 _The underside is lighter..._

 _When you turn it around._

 _Everything stays..._

 _Right where you left it..._

 _Everything stays..._

 _But it still changes..._

 _Ever so slightly..._

 _Daily and nightly..._

 _In little ways..._

 _When everything stays."_

Laurens opened his eyes, blinking a few times. Hamilton was sitting next to the table/bed that Laurens was on.

"Good afternoon, Sleeping Beauty." Hamilton smiled softly. Laurens copied his expression.

"That's my line." Laurens' voice was barely a whisper.

"You're back," Hamilton stated.

"That I am." Laurens had to take a longer breath. "Shouldn't be, though."

"Don't say that. You're important."

"That wasn't depression talking. I'm literally supposed to be dead. Very dead."

Hamilton sighed. "It's my fault you got...killed, anyway."

"No, it's not."

"Yes, it is. I was too focused on my father that I just left you..."

Laurens coughed. His chest burned. "If I had the chance to get revenge on my father, I would have probably done the same."

"I didn't kill him," Hamilton mumbled. "I-I couldn't bring myself to do it, no matter how much I wanted to. I know that whatever I could do to him wouldn't make me satisfied."

"What did you do?"

"Prisoner."

Laurens blinked.

"No one seems to like it, but I don't care."

"We try not to take prisoners."

"They did it first."

"You haven't been torturing him or anything, have you?"

"Of course not." Hamilton sounded as if he thought Laurens was crazy. Laurens raised an eyebrow. "They won't let me see him until you do."

Laurens chuckled faintly. "You been waiting for me to wake up just because of that?"

Hamilton's cheeks grew pink. "No. I missed you, too."

Laurens hummed, slowly moving his arm to take Hamilton's hand into his own.

"What's it like?" Hamilton whispered, rubbing Laurens' hand with his thumb.

"Being dead?"

Hamilton nodded.

"Well, its hard to explain, because...honestly, it's not really anything."

"What do you mean?"

"It's just like it sounds. There's nothing. It's like sleeping without any dreams. Darkness and nothing else. After waking up, it feels like I was only out for a minute."

"What about, like, heaven and hell and stuff?"

Laurens laughed softly. "I don't know about all that."

"You don't believe in anything?"

"I wasn't taught that kind of stuff while growing up here."

Hamilton hummed. "I don't know how I feel about it, anymore. My mom taught me what and how to believe, you know? But after you lose your one hold on the world, sometimes it's hard to continue with only something you can't exactly see."

Laurens lifted Hamilton's hand to his cheek, nuzzling the cool skin. "You're the one hold in my world, now."

"You're probably mine, too."

"Probably?"

Hamilton shrugged. "I haven't decided, yet."

"Don't be an ass. You liked me since you first saw me."

"The first time I saw E, I thought she was cute-" Hamilton's smugness was cut short when Laurens grabbed him by the shirt collar.

"Don't. Fucking. Dare."

Hamilton shivered at Laurens' growl. He smirked. "Oh, jealous?"

"Not entirely. Just don't want you screwing around with any of my sisters, especially my most innocent sister."

"If innocence is what you like, then I'm really not a good option for you."

"I like innocence in E. Not in my lover."

Laurens pulled Hamilton forward and kissed him deeply. Hamilton squeaked, but soon melted into the kiss.

Laurens was certainly startled when Hamilton moaned. They both pulled away, gaping at each other.

"Sorry," Hamilton muttered, his face pink and his eyes on the floor.

"Hey, it's okay. I didn't say I minded, did I?"

"Well, no."

Laurens leaned forward and nuzzled Hamilton's neck, making the smaller boy giggle.

"You're being so domestic, today."

"I have no idea what that means."

"It means cute and cuddly."

"I feel like that's a lie," Laurens singsonged.

"More like...a simplified definition for someone who doesn' t have access to most of the internet."

"Thanks for reminding me of what I've been missing out on..."

"The internet is terrifying, for the most part. And it just sucks your life away. You should be thankful you haven't had to deal with it." Hamilton rubbed his eyes tiredly. "Plus...fuck, the amount of idiots on there..."

"I appreciate your attempt to cheer me up, but there's still so much I don't know or understand about real life." Laurens ran his hand up and down Hamilton's arm. "New people will come in and talk about stuff from out there, thinking I know what they mean, but...I just feel so left out, you know?"

Hamilton brushed his fingers over Laurens' jawline. "When this is all over and we get out of here, I'll show you everything you've been missing."

Laurens raised an eyebrow. "You promise?"

"Yes. Even if we aren't romantic, anymore, by then, I am going to show you every great book, show, movie, song-hell, memes, too. Everyone deserves to experience a good life."

Laurens was smiling. "You know, I think my brain gets more fucked up everytime I get brought back."

"I don't doubt it. Any reason for bringing it up, now?"

"I...think I love you." Laurens was sure he looked like a puppy.

Hamilton blushed again. "Uh-huh...I'm just going to chalk that up to you never having experience with romance before."

"What?"

"This is one situation where you can't say you're in love so soon. Well, every situation is like that, but this one more so."

Laurens pouted. "What a shame. Because I really think I love you."

"Stop that." Hamilton playfully swatted Laurens' arm.

"Hm...nope." Laurens dragged Hamilton onto the bed with him, and a wonderous makeout session began. Laurens loved the feeling of Hamilton's lips moving against his. He wasn't as sure about the tongue that dipped into his mouth.

There was a knock on the door before Laurens could decide on it. Hamilton rolled off of the bed so fast that Laurens was sure the boy had cracked his head open on the floor. However, Hamilton jumped back up right as the door opened and P walked in.

"Glad to see that you're awake," P said without looking up from the tablet in her hand. "Your heartrate kept falling and rising, though, so I'm going to run a few more tests than usual."

"Okay," Laurens agreed. "My heartrate was probably like that because of what Hamilton and I were talking about."

"Good to know, I guess. You can leave, now, Hamilton."

"Right." Hamilton wiped his palms on his pants. "Good to have you back, Laurens." Hamilton winked at Laurens from behind P's back as he left the room.

Laurens stifled a grin and turned his eyes away.

"You look like you're about to pass out, Bro," P said. "I'll have to run a test for that, too."


	24. Chapter 23: Prisoner of War

Laurens had interrogated multiple people before, but this felt like a whole different beast.

Hamilton hadn't been allowed to come with. Laurens didn't want Hamilton to attack his father, again. Laurens was already worried that he would be doing that, himself.

The interrogation room and holding cells were kept far away from the rest of the facility for safety and privacy, even though they were rarely used. Only certain people were allowed to enter. Therefore, if any interrogation needed to happen, one of these specific people had to do the interrogating. Unfortunately, Laurens had been chosen, even though he had woken up only yesterday.

He wasn't even allowed to take his medicine, yet, so he _really_ didn't want to deal with this.

James Hamilton's hands were cuffed to the top of the table in the interrogation room. Laurens just looked at him through the one-way mirror for a couple minutes. The man didn't look nearly as intimidating and strong as what Hamilton had described. James looked disheveled and generally done with life. His hair was greasy, his beard was scraggly, and he didn't look nearly as strong as he should be for his line of work.

Laurens pressed a button on the wall, allowing James to see him, but the man didn't look up. Laurens spoke into the microphone on the wall. "Are you ready?" James didn't respond. "Okay."

Laurens went into the room and sat across from James, who finally looked at him.

"I've heard a lot about you," Laurens said. "Your son has talked about you plenty of times."

James huffed.

"Anything to say about that? Or have you forgotten who he is?"

"I have no son. Not anymore."

"And why is that? You thought he would die when you left him alone? Is that when you joined the Thirds?"

"The Kingsmen offered me food and a place to live for free if I worked with them. The kid wasn't involved in that decision. He wanted nothing to do with me, so I figured he'd like it if I left."

Laurens leaned forward and snarled at James. "He was twelve and you had just made him kill his mother."

"She was dragging us down. It taught him how to let go faster."

"Right. Like how beating him everyday was teaching him how to fight."

"It was."

"You and I have very different definitions of training, then."

James rolled his eyes. "Is this really what you're supposed to be interrogating me about?"

"I can interrogate you about anything I want," Laurens retorted. He then sat back in his chair. "But there are more pressing things I could ask you about, I suppose."

"Let's get it over with, asshat."

Laurens' eye twitched, but he refused to retaliate. "What is your job over there? What do the Thirds usually have you do?"

"Not interrogations, that's for sure."

"Yeah, I figured that out."

James exhaled. "They just had me clean weapons and shit. I'm nowhere near a higher-up, if that's what you want."

That was what Laurens wanted, actually. "I don't believe you. You answered too easily."

"You aren't threatening."

Laurens lowered his voice to sound menacing. "Do you want me to be?"

James scoffed. "That's cute, kid. Is torture not allowed here?"

"I can make it allowed."

"Go on, then. Show me what you've got."

Laurens stood and grabbed the gun on his belt.

"I'm not lying to you, though," James mentioned before Laurens could do anything.

"Again, I don't believe you. Why would you goad me on if you weren't lying?"

"You aren't used to this kind of thing, are you?" James smirked.

"I've interrogated people plenty of times, for your information."

James narrowed his eyes. "Then why do you act like such a child?"

It felt like a punch to the gut. So, Laurens retaliated. He moved behind James and punched the back of the man's head. James only reacted with a puff of air.

Laurens spoke close to James' face. "Alright, asshole. Listen. I couldn't give less of a shit about your well being, but I'm not allowed to say that here. So, you have two options. Make this easy for me and tell me what I want to know, or make it difficult for both of us and not talk at all."

"You look like you could use a challenge. What do you want to know, Kid?"

Laurens clenched his fists. "We know there's a spy for the Thirds in here-"

"And we know that you know."

"Shut up." Laurens ran a hand through his hair. "Tell me who they are."

"No."

"Tell me what they do, then."

"Not going to happen."

Laurens grabbed the front of James' shirt. "Stop fucking with me and answer my questions."

James was silent for a moment, then quietly said, "I'm not scared of you."

Laurens just blinked, trying not to react.

"If you really know so much about me, then you should know that I won't be that easily scared by people like you, who are are trying too hard."

"From what I know about you, you are a coward."

James shrugged. "Even so, do you really think I would be afraid of some whiny, bratty kid? I already dealt with one of those for twelve years. I think I can handle one more."

Laurens punched the man in the face. "I'm not scared of you or any of your people, either. I _will_ get what I need out of you, and by then, you _will_ be scared of me."

"Again, you're trying too hard to be taken seriously. If you're the leader of this place, it's no wonder the Union is going down soon."

"Are your leaders planning on attacking us sometime? Is that what you mean?"

James turned his head away. "Why the hell would I tell you?"

"For fuck's sake..." Laurens moved to the other side of the room. He figured out all he needed to know for now. "Next time I'm in here with you, you won't have such a good time." Laurens slammed the door behind him when he left.

* * *

 **Hey, so, uh...about those silent months...sorry! I had to come up with ideas (which I still don't exactly have) and I also lost interest or motivation for writing literally anything, regardless of the fandom. I'm hoping making myself write will jumpstart my interest again so. We'll see how well this goes. Thank you for the patience.**


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